The Raging Storm
by HerMajestyTravesty
Summary: Alaizabel Greyson and Katherine Webb have both fled from the Cullens. But where did they each go, what paths will they take that will bring them together in a final clash of Titans? The last in the "Storm" series, a fast paced finale.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, and welcome to Chapter 1 of the last instalment if the Storm series! I know you're aching to find out what's happened.**

**OK, so before you read, y'all need to know that this is set 3 months from where we left the story and set in London. If anything confuses you, give it some time, more than likely it will be explained in a later chapter. Cool?**

**ENJOY!!!**

Chapter 1: Alaizabel/Katherine: The other side of the pond.

**ALAIZABEL**:

I walked around the large penthouse, overlooking the Thames. It was a gift from beyond the grave, courtesy of my mother's will, which had been intended for accommodation when I went to university but was now serving as my temporary accommodation in London as I hid from my demons. Tonight was schnitzel night – again. It was about the only thing I could cook – I burnt salad. But the kitchen, the literal hub of the home, seemed like a ghost town. With no one to tell me what to do, it felt somewhat empty, like a showroom after lights out and all the visitors had gone home. I'd developed the habit of keeping all the lights switched on at all times. Never was there a room where there wasn't some source of comfort. If ever I needed a light off, I'd run as quickly as possible out of the darkened room. Night times were the worst – I'd wake up with my pillow clamped between my teeth, self-medicating to stop the nightmares from becoming too real, bubbles and darkness blurring the edges of my vision so that I couldn't even shut my eyes properly in the shower anymore. It wasn't even the typical blood-gore-teeth vampire fantasy, just the overwhelming need to get away from a force I couldn't see.

Dad hadn't called in a good fortnight. That was one thing I could thank the fang-qui for – that wonderful ability to get people to do what you wanted had somehow been passed onto me, after his frantic panicked texts and messages I simply told him **"drop it"**. And he had. I hadn't heard from him since. I doubted he'd even registered that I wasn't living in the house anymore. I've no idea what had happened with school, what he'd told them, but then again I doubted that a small school in the middle of up-state Washington with a population of less than 200 was really going to make that much of an effort to find a troubled, rogue foreigner. A teenager at that.

Pressing my forehead against the glass of the large living room window, the blood red sunset cast shadows round the room. In my reflection, my hair was the same shade as the burning skyline, possibly even more vivid. But I knew it wasn't just a trick of the light. My hair _had_ changed, deepening to become a violent copper, and had grown with a speed I'd never thought it possessed. Already tendrils were beginning to tickle my elbows, and the dark waves framed my pale face in an inferno. I almost didn't recognise myself and the murderous intention in my obsidian-black eyes, once reserved solely for my fang qui, was now a permanent feature upon my feral face. Crumpled in my fist was a post-it carrying the number I would need to call. It was the number of an old family friend, the man who would help me track my mother's death place. Solemnly, I reached for the phone.

*******

**KATHERINE:**

The club music blared loudly and garishly; Scotland really wasn't my scene, I decided with a sigh. Despite leaving the good old U S of A, intent following Emmett's advice and heading home, I'd somehow found myself _diverted_ away from London. It had begun innocently enough – I'd never been so far north before and decided on a whim that as I had so much free time on my hands I may as well take a trip…. But then days had turned into weeks, and all the while it seemed to get just that little bit harder to go back. If I wanted to be perfectly frank with myself it was because I was scared, scared of going back and finding that in fact I had nothing, but all the same pure "chicken" I chided myself. The word "scared" sounded so _weak_ coming from a vampire though…

The sudden wave of self-hate I felt caused me to scowl in displeasure, and at my arm the guy who'd been attempting to flirt with me took a step back. I ignored him. He was right to be afraid – my kind were the stuff of nightmares after all – and I really was not in the mood for what he had in mind tonight. Maybe the darkness of the club disguised it, or he thought I was just into weird contacts, but my burgundy eyes were at the point of slipping into black. I would need to hunt soon. As soon as I remembered my thirst, the burning in my throat seemed to up a notch and "ouch" didn't quite cover it really. I wasn't in the mood for murder games tonight, and so with a huff I turned on my heel and began to head for the door, dodging the dance floor to avoid catching someone with my icy-cool skin in the press of sweaty bodies. That was one explanation I did not want to have to make.

On the street outside, in the dingily lit alley, a small crowd had gathered around my car. Well, I say _my _car. Ownership is such a loose turn of phrase. The man I had alleviated it from wasn't going to be missing it any time soon - death was a pretty permanent state of mind, in most cases. Forcing myself to be polite, I pushed my way through the crowd, trying very hard to remind myself how fragile the humans around me were. Most parted with a slight sense of awe before me. I didn't know whether they were amazed at my looks, or whether they couldn't believe a girl drove _that_ kind of wheels but multiple heartbeats flew like birds' wings. I gripped the handle tightly and slipped into the driver's seat, starting the engine and flooring the accelerator in the same movement. The engine of my car snarled, and though I knew I was going too fast, I didn't care enough to stop. The time for playing chicken was over, I decided. I was headed home.

**ALAIZABEL:**

Walking down the street, the warm spring breeze ruffled my hair. Around me, the trees in the park were just coming into bloom and the sunlight sent warm rays blossoming over my skin. A couple of people on bikes cast me appreciative glances, and I blushed abruptly, forgetting for a moment that I wasn't the bumbling teenager I had been but something more, something better. At least now, my waves of hair could hide my burning cheeks.

In contrast to the absolute beauty of the day, I still couldn't get over being out in the open. Since my strength had grown, I'd begun to sense with deadly accurate the desires of those around me, and the flat had seemed almost a welcome hideout to escape the world. I'd only emerged because my contact had requested a meeting in the open, and I was too polite to say no, but part of me wondered if this was just a test to see if I was who I claimed to be – he worked for the police after all. Maybe he thought I was some sinister gang hit man on the loose, about to make him disappear once I had his details, not the innocent child he had known me as I thought wryly. The police had theorised about drug dealing being connected to my mother's murder after all…

I was brought sharply out of my reverie by the mind-frame of the bored-looking teenage girl who'd just passed me on the path. Although her blank face betrayed nothing of her personality, I knew her desire. She wanted to break the nose of her best friend, oddly enough. I could only speculate why – maybe an argument? Boy trouble? Maybe even daddy had refused to get her a nose job and her friend's father allowed one? I didn't care, but the pure malice rolling off her made me frown. A couple seated snogging on a bench to my left made me want to laugh out loud, whereas the needs of a man playing fetch with his dog on the grass made me want to cry tears of sorrow. The constant emotional climate I was subjected to was draining, to say the least.

I thought the emotional storm I was weathering had come to a rest for a while, as the park path took me through a thicket of trees. Then I spotted the guy. He was good-looking I guess, no older than 27, and had the sort of smile that would have turned my knees to jelly in normal circumstances. But his desire disturbed any lust I had for him. He was after his neighbour – or to be more precise, his neighbour's fourteen year old daughter. My lip curled in contempt but as his eyes wandered over my frame and I felt his wish change, the contempt quickly turned to hate. I could feel my fang qui brewing for action, clanging the prison bars with it's metal cup demanding release to tear this guy apart, and clearly my feelings must have shown on my face for he looked away and quickened his pace to leave me far behind.

As my fang qui settled, I noted for a faint moment how I never got scared anymore, except in the dark. And then I knew I'd spoken too soon – ahead of me stood a pale creature with burning mahogany eyes I guess were just the result of brown contacts over crimson red.

Ahead of me, stood a vampire.

**Alrighty, so the next chapter will be coming ASAP, but I can't tell you who it's from yet, because I haven't even written it yet! Keep an eye out people, and review! I'll never know if you approve if I get no feedback!**

**-FB**


	2. Chapter 2

Katherine:

"Enjoy your stay madam"

The overly-friendly bellboy's false smile stayed with me as I shut the  
door in his face, my rudeness tempered somewhat by the fat tip that  
bulged in his breast-pocket. Large enough to give me some privacy, I  
hoped.

The room I'd booked was large, immaculately kept, and most of all,  
beige. Surprisingly like the Cullens' manor, or at least, what I'd  
seen of it, I thought with a wry smile. Flopping down onto the bed I  
reached for the remote and turned on the plasma TV that occupied one  
of the bedroom walls. Channel after channel scrolled past my eyes;  
music, dance, drama, news, game show, real life, more music, more  
news… the headlines caught my eye and with a start, I flicked  
backwards again. But after a few moments even that bored me.

Switching off the TV with a sigh, I lay back and stared at the  
ceiling, not really seeing the cream plaster swirled in artful curves.  
The accents on the TV came to my mind- so different from the smooth  
fluidity of the American anchors I had grown used to, and a stark  
contrast to one voice in particular I realised with a start-  
Amaryllis'. Thinking about her troubled me somewhat as the guilt of my  
sudden flight from the Cullens began to ooze into my conscience. I  
wondered how she was faring, how the others had reacted to news of my  
departure and swore quietly that if anything had happened to her I  
would avenge every slight tenfold. Mentally, as my imagination served  
me images of just what her fate could have been, pressure began to  
build and the lampshade at my bedside began to tremble alarmingly.  
Quickly, I forced my mind to other issues and it wandered back to why  
I was here. My not-so-long-ago past.

Why was I here? I pondered. At the time, it had made a lot of sense  
but now I was so close, I wasn't so sure. For comfort? Visiting the  
place of your death seemed a rather morbid replacement cuddle blanket  
or teddy bear – closure seemed a more appropriate sentiment. Closure  
on what had been a most troubling first year of eternity.

Closing my eyes, I turned my thoughts back to that evening. My  
memories were dim, hazy as though a veil had been drawn over my view  
of the past and I was left trying to see through the fog, but I could  
still remember.

It had been warm, the cluster of bodies in the carriage stifling. I  
hadn't expected an evening train to London to be so tightly packed,  
but then again a year locked up in a padded cell had left me rather  
out of touch, I'd mused. We'd emerged from the station onto the busy  
streets, the crowds outside swirling as people moved out and about. I  
could remember my apprehension, my panic at being so close to other  
people, but then she'd put her hand on my arm and I'd been okay. Her,  
my doctor, the light in my somewhat dark existence, the one who seemed  
to genuinely care how I was doing instead of just routinely showing up  
to administer the pills am to pm. It had been her who arranged for me  
to get out of that place, arguing that a trip to the theatre was what  
I deserved for my "good behaviour".

We'd left ourselves plenty of time that night – in case I'd freaked,  
or worse, but I'd been fine – though I could still recall my childish  
irritation at the repeated way she'd asked me how I was doing, concern  
evident in her grey eyes. I remember their faces, spinning like twin  
pools of light through the crowd towards us. They'd asked for  
directions, the conversation that followed ending in an invitation for  
drinks before our show. She'd turned to me, checking if I'd wanted to  
go, and to try and please her I'd given the answer I thought most  
normal teenagers would and leapt at the chance to visit a swish London  
bar.

My memory skipped a little; passing over the walk we'd taken through  
the streets to the point where they'd led us to an alleyway.

We'd been following that too-good-to-be-true couple like lambs to a  
slaughter, naïve and willing. Then the man, the gorgeously blond male,  
had turned off the street to lead us down a dark alleyway. I remember  
pausing at the entrance, suddenly afraid, but in front of me she'd  
followed them in and so I'd taken those fateful steps after her. The  
brick walls of the buildings either side towered over us, blocking out  
the last of the evening sunshine, and absurdly I could still remember  
the bins overflowing with rubbish and the wet newspaper that had lain  
in the gutter as we'd walked further into the gloom.

Then they'd stopped. I remembered the smile on his face, so beautiful,  
and the woman with flowing golden hair at his side. I could still see  
in my mind the way her sculpted brows had furrowed as she'd looked to  
us, and how I'd turned to my doctor confused, as the woman had taken a  
step to the side to slam her ivory elbow into an old window. The  
brittle glass had shattered in an instant, falling in a silver shower  
onto the grimy pavement. I remember seeing that man, his smile  
brighter as his eyes, so black in his face, lighted with some unknown  
fire.

And then nothing except darkness. Heavy, oppressive darkness in my  
mind. Panic, as I found myself unable to open my eyes to see, part my  
lips to scream out loud, budge my limbs, call for help from my doctor.  
All I could feel was my hands, moving on their own according, reaching  
and then gripping. Pressure on my elbows, soft as a feather touch.  
Then the wet, the seeping damp that trickled down my wrists and my  
palms and the tips of my fingers, the soft drip of blood falling onto  
concrete paving.

With a start my eyes snapped open, tearing myself from my morbid  
memories. Had I a heart beat it would have been racing. That was why I  
was here, why I had returned. With a start, I leapt from the bed,  
grabbing my room key as I headed for the door. It was now or never – I  
was going back to that alley even if it killed me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey all, sorry about the delay, but here is the long awaited chapter 3 in The Raging Storm. **

**Read review, but most of all ENJOY!!!**

Chapter 3: Alaizabel: there's no such thing as the "good twin"

Fear routed me to the spot and for once my _fang-qui_ was silent. In shock, I prayed, not from fear itself. If my _fang-qui_ wasn't showing up, I didn't stand a snowball's.

The too-red mahogany eyes burned into my black ones, and seemed to sear straight into my skin. I wanted to shout out, to warn the people around me of this vampire's presence, yet my lips stayed locked in a vice-like grip. His eyes were hypnotic. Dark crimson eyes that flashed, signaling danger. This was no docile animal-feeding creature. This one thrived off humans, off people. From blood.

He smiled. _Adam_ smiled – his name, I could read that much – and he might as well have come straight out of the book of Genesis itself because he was ancient. In his smell there was a streak of mustiness entwined in the sandalwood that told me that much.

Sculpted cheekbones stood out against the alabaster skin as his lips pulled back a little too far to reveal porcelain teeth. On a human, they would have been enviable, but they sent neon danger signs burning in my retinas.

I. Had. To. Run.

He began to move, slowly at first, then with quickening pace, oblivious to the growing number of stares we were receiving. To normal people, the sight must have been like lovers reuniting in a B-list romance, but to me it was a first class horror. With a shudder, my _fang-qui_ shook itself to life and balled my fists ready for action. Adam shot a look at my fists, and real humor lit in his eyes. The red within them glowed brighter like a flint had been struck behind them momentarily.

His smile widened to a contortion of teeth, too much like a lion's snarl to convince me he was really laughing. The wind blew.

My hair, long and strengthened coppery waves, swirled around my face like Medusa's tentacles as though trying to slash a score on his diamond hard skin. And then the snarl dropped. A look of confusion, mingled with trepidation, washed over his features, reminding me with a start of the look Edward had given me the first time we'd met. He had stopped, and we stood locked in the ultimate staring match. Every ounce of me was willing him to take that step closer, to narrow the space between us. So I knock that stupidly beautiful bloody smirk off his ancient face.

And then he took a step back, turning on his heel with a quick nod at me, and _ran_. He wanted to tell someone, I registered with confusion, someone important. All I could visualize from his desire was milky eyes and thick black cloaks. It meant nothing to me, and the thought died under a wave of relief. I'd done it – I'd seen off a vampire. I'd come an inch from a most agonizing and public death and the very sight, or maybe it was smell, of me had stopped it. I grinned from ear to ear, forgetting about the few spectators who were gazing at me curiously. They moved on, except for one man.

He was squat and clearly baldy underneath his trilby hat that was the same material as his tie. His waterproof coat was sturdy but well used, old coffee stains and home-made repairs were dotted over the surface like the pock-scars on the surface of the moon. His thick white moustache bristled as he took in my form. He seemed conflicted, and I could tell he wanted nothing to do with me. Truly, his desire was that he had never left his office at the police station to come find me.

Ah, so this was Detective Inspective Bryneer.

My contact.

I turned to face him fully, and locked my endless black eyes with his hazel ones, squinting in the spring light. His faced dropped for a split second but I caught the micro-expressions as if they'd been played in slow motion. First there was some form of shock; no doubt at my drastically changed image. Then there was what seemed to be sadness; the memories of my mother's murder investigation must have played heavily on his heart. But lastly there was fear. That, I didn't need to guess.

His fist clenched momentarily and his pupils dilated. I terrified him to the core.

"Hi Rhys." I said, as calmly and warmly as I could, considering the seriousness of the situation. He took a moment too long to respond.

"Hello Alaizabel. You've… You've changed quite a bit." He said, his shrewd hazel eyes examining my face, looking for some sign that the old me still residing there. His Welsh accent was as thick as ever.

"Shall we go find somewhere to sit down. Maybe a bit quieter?" I offered, gesturing with an elongated hand towards some benches that seemed to have been deserted. He nodded and bustled off towards one, oblivious to the fact that I was power walking to keep up.

"Did you bring the file?" I asked. Again he nodded and procured a beige file from the depths of his coat. He didn't open it, but kept it firmly clenched between his pork sausage hands and stared at the passers by. I waited patiently. He needed time to calm down, time to get to grips with what he was about to do.

"Why, after all this time, are you suddenly interested?" He barely whispered.

"Closure." I answered. He turned to glance at my face, but averted his eyes once again. He wasn't used to my wild stare.

"You firstly accuse your mother of being a drug dealer, but when we find nothing, you become uninterested. You moved away – to bloody America! – and didn't even bother to wait until we'd finished looking into our sources! You gave up on her, and the girl she was with. You didn't give a damn. Why should I hand this over to you, when you're just as likely to thrown it into the Thames as you are to follow it up?" He spat.

Inside I was hurt. Really hurt. He made it sound like I was the most uncaring, irresponsible horrible daughter on the planet.

But he was telling the truth.

"Rhys," I said, struggling not to let my voice crack. "I'm not the same as I was when I went to the States. I think differently now, I see differently. And incase you haven't noticed, I am a human being," (_sort of)_ "and humans feel guilt. You think I don't beat myself up everyday for how I acted? Why do you think I came back?!"

He looked directly at me, and for a moment I was startled. His quick hazel eyes peered into the gaping hole that were mine, and didn't flinch. Not a single expression, micro or otherwise moved across his aged face. And for once, I couldn't tell his desire. He didn't even know it himself.

"If I give you this, you must promise, _promise me_, you'll do the right thing. I will not lose my job over this." He added, though it was as clear as the sky that it was not his job that he cared about right now. "Why did it have to be _you_ that came back?"

"Why did _you_ get so attached?" I countered. Finally, feeling flitted across his wrinkled cheeks, and his eyes pricked with minute moisture.

"You wouldn't understand." He grumbled. Removing his hat and running it through his surprisingly thick white hair. But now I was reluctant to speak.

His desire was flashing great big neon signs above his head, glowing in the light of the sun.

_I WANT HER BACK. I WISH IT HAD BEEN YOU._

Though under normal circumstances, I would have been disgusted and appauled, a small part of me couldn't help but solemnly nod with his suggestion.

"How close were you to my mother?" I asked, careful not to look to accusing.

"None of your bloody business!" he squawked, a little too defensivly. I saw his hands clasp together. It was obvious. He was very close to her.

"Were you having an affair?" I whispered.

"No." He answered simply. But sadly. There was no lie in his face. The truth now lay in his desire.

_I WISH WE HAD BEEN._

"Why not?" I asked again, oblivious to his clear discomfort.

"Because, she wouldn't leave…she wouldn't go without…." He replied shakily. Only after moving my head to get the light out of my eyes, did I notice that his voice was shaky because he was holding back tears that had welled up for years.

"She wouldn't leave my dad?" I asked, trying to help his words come out.

"NO! She couldn't stand that bastard! She wouldn't leave him, because of **you**." He stared at me accusingly, the word "_you_" laced with hatred.

Ah, the pieces slotted into place perfectly.

"Thank you Rhys. I'll see you around." I said coolly as I slid off the bench and began to gather my bag.

"Not if I can help it." He muttered.

Now I was annoyed. I could easily have slapped him, shouted at him, publicly humiliated him but I chose not to. And then, he has to rub salt in the wound. _Enough is enough _my _fang-qui_ growled.

"Rhys," I said smoothly. He stared up into my eyes, and feared what he saw. "Give me the file." I asked. He handed it to me without question.

"Now," I began, and my _fang-qui­ _grinned inside, knowing she was about to get released. "**THROW YOURSELF OFF TOWER BRIDGE."**

His eyes glazed over slightly, and he walked away with a slightly panicked face. Oh he knew what he was doing. And he knew I'd made him. And that was a satisfaction I was only to glad to possess.

"_**WELL DONE.**_" My _fang-qui_ snarled. I walked away in the opposite direction, and tasted blood in my mouth.

We both smiled.

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**Right so chapter four is now a work in progress, I will try an update more regularly. I've got more time on my hands now due to the summer, so keep an eye out!**

**-FB**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Katherine: statues, salt and screaming.

I missed how London was always grey in some shape, manner or form.

If it wasn't the skies, then it was the pigeons or the huge stone buildings with statues and gargoyles that stared at you, a mere mortal, with an imperial stare. I'd always been scared of them, respectful of their immortality. But today I stared back. Not only was I as ageless as them, but I was not bound to sit perched in the same position day after day until wind and rain eroded me. The unmoving eyes of the statues seemed to register my presence and cowered in their stone sockets.

The spring day was warm and wet. The sun glinted gold off the sodden pavement, and tiny droplets of rainwater flew into the air as people trod over them. Oxford circus was busy, very busy, yet I seemed to have a force field around my skin. No one came within a foot of me, providing me a large berth. Probably a good thing, it was just one less reason for me to lash out and drain one of them right then and there. The pulsing of blood in my ears from all around me made my head swim and for everything to be covered in a fine pink mist. They glanced up into my face and forced themselves to carry on with their mediocre tasks. They were too British to stare proper. Only tourists forgot the custom of "don't look, don't ask" and a few Japanese ones even asked for my picture. The sight of the little old ladies with the tennis caps and guidebooks amused me. I agreed to "take a picture?". The Polaroid snapped and when the photo developed in my hands, I was shocked with how calm my face looked. It was the antithesis of the knot that was slowly strangling me from the inside.

As I came closer to the alleyway, the pedestrian traffic started to thin. This place was only busy a night, people hurrying to and fro from clubs, bars and theatres. The only thing here that was vaguely interesting was a cinema advertising the latest Harry Potter film. I stood and stared. When I had been turned, the book of this film hadn't even been published yet. The saying "_time stands still for no man_" resounded in my head. I made a slight amendment to it though.

"_Time_ _stands still for no vampire. Vampires run alongside._"

……………………………………………………

The smell was getting stronger as I continued to walk towards my destination. That freezing, salty, overpowering aroma that intensified with each step. I clutched the bridge of my nose - it was aching awfully. It was like breathing in frozen sea water, I could practically feel the microscopic crystals of salt settling in my sinuses and the back of my throat, stinging dreadfully. Even after all this time, Adèle Greyson's blood still clung to the concrete slabs of the alleyway, and released their scent. My doctor's blood.

I passed by a small electrical store and decided to take my mind off the smell for a moment. Let me have a chance at a second breath. I studied to display in the window. iPods and other assorted mp3 players were scattered everywhere, obviously knock offs of the original products. A very seventies looking radio was squashed right next to the latest Sony phone, the time clash was amusing. But the new report on the television made me scowl. A man had just committed suicide off Tower Bridge, and the uneasy feeling that death was stalking me crept into my dried up veins. Surely this was a bad omen, one of the many Amaryllis had taught me to see, in her ancient ways. I watched the replayed footage of a tourist capturing the man plummeting into the greyish green water. His arms flapped wildly and he twisted as a bird might when hit by a stone mid-flight. It was a bird sign, of sorts. I looked away before the film showed his crashing collision with the water. At that speed, every bone in his body would have been shattered upon impact. My mind was already filled with enough death to last me a lifetime.

But I would have to endure more than just one lifetime, wouldn't I.

I stood just around the corner to the alley, leaning against the wall. Big breaths, in, out in, out. I didn't technically need them, my body had no need for oxygen, not that there was much in the polluted air of London. It was just therapeutic to relax and contract the muscles of my stomach and chest. Loosened the knot in my gut that would have put the Gordian one to shame.

I decided on counting to three to mark my entrance to the alleyway. I didn't care that I could hear an old vagrant's heartbeat in there, the slow thudding that made in all terms apart from literal, made my mouth water. He would clear off once he saw me, most lone humans did.

I closed my eyes and squeezed them, to rid my body of the last ounce of tension.

2.

I dropped my shoulders and unclenched my fists. I took a step away from the wall and prepared to enter to empty lions den.

3.

I turned 180 degrees and faced down into the alleyway. My eyes were still closed. A slight shuffled and gasp made me snap my eyes open, adjusting quickly the gloomy light to find the frightened hobo.

My eyes instead rested upon a crouched figure with shocking copper hair and black, possessed eyes glaring at me with hatred.

A millisecond later I recognised her. Alaizabel stood up, and snarled, a guttural vibration echoing from her throat.

The goldfish I had left behind in Forks was now a great white.

Alaizabel started towards me, the pace quickening with each step, the vibration echoing off the walls and morphing into a battle cry.

My own growl mixed in with the unholy shouts and my cadaverous fingers turned to claws.


	5. Chapter 5

**HEY ALL! Really sorry about the massive delay but school work will prevail!**

**Hope you like this chapter, read, review but mostly enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Edward: London calling.

Alice almost fell off her bar stool when she saw what had happened. A sudden involuntary intake of breath alerted the others that something was the matter but I had already seen the vision. It took everything I had not to run over to the Swan house just to make sure Bella was still there, the image disturbed me so.

I stared at Alice as she composed herself before Jasper dashed into the room, inside he was cursing himself for not being next to her while she saw whatever had agitated her. Before he flitted around the corner, Alice gave me a look that would have made my blood run cold had it not been so already.

We were still hunched over the map of Great Britain, trying to figure out the place Alaizabel would have gone. Carlisle said he had recognized her accent as south of the Thames, but he still wasn't completely sure. It had been centuries since he'd stepped foot on that island. Next to us were personal items of hers that she'd left; a photo album, some diaries from her childhood, even a few legal documents. Annoyingly, they were all incredibly vague as to where she had lived; even the legal documents were addressed to her lawyer's office in the middle of Central London. But that didn't mean that was where she was. She could be on the other side of the country right now for all we knew. What we were looking for was an indication of a place where she called "home". That was the last thing I'd heard from her mind as she sped off into the oppressing green around us.

_I'm going home._

We worked as quickly and as quietly as we could, Alice and me using our special communications so as to limit the noise. And the whole family played along. We couldn't let wind of an escaped Siren and young vampire reach the rest of our kind. Some, trying to help, might get themselves embroiled in something that could hurt them, for had we not proved that a Siren was definitely a worthy advisory for a vampire? Others would see them as sport; new fresh targets, and frankly, James had put me off tracking and hunting other vampires for the rest of my existence. Amaya had been pushed to her patience's limit when she returned with Jacob and his pack after searching on vain for her, and then we had denied her our immediate commitment to flying directly to China to incite the help of other Sirens that she knew. She's come very, _very_ close to letting her own _fang-qui­ _take over and It took both Emmett physically restraining her and Jasper working his magic to even get her to see reason. She had left the house with raging black eyes and cursing in Chinese, both inwardly and outwardly. Although she had not actually thought it, it was obvious where she was heading. Back to China for help.

Jacob was still very skeptical about the whole situation. He didn't think any of us should get involved, but just stay put and leave the British to settle it.

"There are vampires all over the world right? So why do you have to get involved with something all the way over the Atlantic, let alone the country! You know what happens when these things go international – bad, _bad _stuff!"

"Jacob, we can't just leave her! I mean some on, you were friends with her, how can you be so heartless?" Bella exclaimed.

"Friends? I barely knew her! Look, all I'm saying is that this is not rational! Tell your leech that now really is the time to be as cold as he can."

"JAKE!" Bella cried out, face flushing maroon with anger.

They had continued squabbling and bickering for hours, only stopping when Tala agreed with Bella. Jacob and Tala had been seeing a lot of each other over the last month, united by the whole "leader-of-the-pack" status. Seth was becoming increasingly annoyed about this, saying that they ruined being in a pack because he was always left out while they sidled off together. But lately things had been hitting a rough patch; Tala was getting more and more obsessed with tracking down her uncle Seamus and any other members of her extended family that might share the wolf-gene, and Jacob couldn't cope. That was why she agreed with that we were doing – she said it was because if she were Alaizabel, she'd want someone to make an effort to find her. Inside her heart tightened as she wondered why no-one ever did for her.

We were pouring over another of Alaizabel's most recent diaries, still 3 years out of date. Her 14-year-old-self was highly energetic and full of ideas about life, and both Alice and I winced internally as with each page the writing became more pessimistic and withdrawn until the last page with contained "_…You know what? I'm not writing this anymore. I never get any answers back or advice. I never get anything."_

And that was when Alice had her vision.

_In a darkened alleyway, full of old garbage cans and filthy newspapers, a figure lay huddled on the floor, shaking in pain. The figure cried out in torture and rolled over onto their back as if they had been kicked. A moon white face gazed up at a hooded figure in the shadows. The face with the terrified and defiant red eyes belonged to Katherine. Again she shrieked in pain and shook as if attached to electric volts. The grimy glass of the small windows and empty beer bottles all began to shudder, cracks working steadily across them. Katherine fell limp. _

"_We know where she is. We have our own personal tracker" a sweet light voice called out from the shadows. _

"_Now, tell me what she is."_

Suddenly the vision twisted and formed into another.

_Great halls of stone stretched before the vampire as he walked brusquely towards the thrones at the end. His smell was musty and old. When he stopped he bowed to one knee and waited. _

"_tell me the news Adam. What have you found in London that you had to tell us so urgently about?"_

"_My lord," the accented and aged vampire with the beautiful face replied. "That is exactly what I was going to ask you."_

_A whisper of confusion went around the mingled group of vampires in the hall. _

"_Adam? Explain." The soothing voice from before commanded with more force._

"_I found a creature, it is not human, nor is it anything else I have encountered. But my lord, I could see it. It had a soul like no other I had seen."_

"_What did this one look like?"_

"_All living things have a soul. Just one. Only ever one. But this thing, with the strangest scent, it had __**two**__."_

_Gasps and mutterings flitted around the group before a long white hand extended from a black cape and silenced them._

"_Two, you say? And what did the soul look like?" the voice asked in a curious manner._

"_One was like a normal human. But the wind blew and took the scent over and it was strange. I stared harder and the second soul burned through the first and glared. It was like smoke and water and darkness all together. But my lord, the thing that made me turn was not cowardice! The soul looked directly at me. It knew I could see it, and it nodded!"_

_The murmurings from before had risen again and the dim was now past ingoring._

"_What did this thing smell of? You say the scent was off did you not?"_

"_Salt my lord Aro. It smelled like salt."_

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**Right so next chapter coming pretty soon. What did you think of this one? I need you to tell me your thoughts my lovlies, as I am not Edward!**

**-FB**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Katherine/Alaizabel: Mirrors/The Camera Never Lies

**KATHERINE:**

_Bloody hell_. As the hot water pounded into my scalp, searing and yet as soft as a feather's stroke – a sensation I still hadn't got used to, along with my lack of need to take a shower, though I did out of the familiarity the gesture held for me – all I could think was bloody hell.

What that monster was, what she said she was – it disgusted me, repulsion screaming along with every instinct I had to run, run far away and leave her behind – and yet I could see it. From the soft curl of her hair, the flash in her eyes, the way she folded her arms – there was no way she couldn't be Adelé Greyson's daughter. And I had almost killed her.

Leaning my head against the tiled walls of the hotel shower, I let the memories roll back.

_My snarl, her shriek, my leap pushing me forward into a run as I went for the kill…And then her eyes flooding as black as obsidian as she didn't run, but stood and stared me down. _

I felt afresh the jolt of apprehension I'd felt in that moment, as her eyes had bored into mine and I was glad again that I'd pulled away when I had.

_I'd dodged, swerving at the last moment to avoid a collision and almost striking a wall until my reflexes had kicked in. My neat somersault had landed me back on my feet, facing her, and reliving the almost identical confrontation that had happened not so long ago in an American forest where she'd been dripping water and I'd been making the stones explode at my feet. _

And then she'd opened her mouth, and screamed the phrase I'd least expected to hear.

"_You – you killed my mother bitch!"_

Closing my eyes I remembered the shock that had coursed through me – how in a millisecond I'd flicked through every victim I'd ever killed and felt indignation at knowing she was lying.

"_What the - ? No I didn't"_

_She snarled, lips pulled back over ivory teeth and I'd felt a flicker of a chuckle – she wanted to be scary, then I'd show her scary. "Yes you did!"_

_I'd stalked forward, reaching out to close my fingers round her throat, gaining slim satisfaction as I'd squeezed. "I've never laid a finger on your mother."_

"_A..A..Adele Grey…Greyson…" She'd croaked. _

And then my world had stopped

**ALAIZABEL:**

The shower sounded heavy and gurgling behind the wall of the hotel room. The wall were dull, a weird beige colour and the ceiling had those odd swirls of plaster that made my head hurt to look at them, and I'd been stuck in front of them for nearly twenty-four hours now. Well, that's what I told myself was the reason for my head hurting. The other two reasons were just a little too much for me to comprehend. Firstly there was the _fang-qui_ in my head tearing at my eyes and my ears to go into the bathroom and smash the vampire's perfect porcelain face into the mirror and cut out her unbeating heart with a sharp shard. It raged within me and I was afraid to say but occasionally her bursts of anger were so violent and sharp that parts of me responded to her will – only for a second though. As Katherine turned her back on me, wrapped up in a soft cotton towel, the nape of her neck was exposed, and my fang-qui raged at me to take advantage. My hand shot out of my folded arms and grabbed a pen that lay on top of the counter. She turned around instantly at the sudden movement, but I concealed it by pretending I was writing something down. Luckily she bought it and closed the door, because if she had seen my scrawls she would only have seen jagged tears across the pad where the nib had ripped right through the sheets of paper.

The other reason was that while we were in the alley, Katherine's hand wrapped around my pulsing burning neck, she had pushed in hard against a wall. The lump at the back of my head was growing by the second and as i felt it gingerly, my _fang-qui _pouted and harrumphed in resentment.

I stared at the wall. How long could a vampire take for a shower? Why did she need it anyway? The thoughts that should have been running over in front of my eyes didn't and the uniform beige of the walls blurred. My sunglasses lay limply between my unnaturally long fingers. As we had gone back to the hotel, Katherine had shoved them onto my face and told me to keep my eyes on the floor at all times. It was only when we got into the room that I figured out why – my eyes had not lost the total black, and were like two huge shiny orbs of ink in the middle of a light heart shaped face. A mockery of doe-eyed sweetness. It was sick.

Bored, I grabbed the remote from the bed and turned on the channels. I flicked over the daytime TV and cheesy shat shows for about two minutes when my fingers stopped their pressing and my black eyes grew even larger. It was the report on Rhys' suicide. Paramedics and the public crowded around the railings as the police divers went in to drag the shattered body from the water before the current swept him away. It had taken them a whole day to get him out, God knows why. He'd lain there floating all night, the cold air of the coming winter leaving a layer of scummy frost on the half of his body that peeped above the water. In the light of today's sun a halo of dark red surrounded him in the muddy green waters and a few people screamed as his body was finally turned over, revealing a smashed unrecognizable face. They'd have to use dental records to identify him. I had snuck his badge from him as he's handed me the folder, I didn't want him to be recognized immediately, they'd have know he was going to see someone and I didn't want any more trouble than I was already in. But that was not what made me gasp and my hand to jump up to my face in terror. As the camera spun around the congregation of spectators, showing for dramatic effect the faces showing pity and sadness, two very pale faces stood out from the crowd. Just for a second and then they were gone, lost in the cloud of people. But that millisecond of camera time showed me all I needed to know. A small alabaster face with wisps of short dark brown hair poked out of an immaculate hooded coat. Next to the girl was a large man with wavy black hair, almost down to his shoulders, his shoulders back in a stance of power. He too was hooded. But their eyes shone as simultaneously they faced the camera and stared down the lens, their red ruby eyes seeming to go beyond the buzzing screen of the television and connect with mine.

Like they were looking not at the camera, but at _me_.

My face flushed with panic as I realised what they were – vampires. Red eyed vampires meant that they fed off humans, and a very strong chill crept up my spine as I thought of them in that group of innocent strangers. Some of the people there had their children. Did they show mercy and leave them alone, or were they as cruel as Amaryllis and leave children wondering when their mummy and daddy were coming home. The heat kept getting stronger and I went over to the window to breathe in some air – I couldn't say it was fresh as it overlooked a main road, but it was better than nothing. Poking my head out, my copper tendrils wafting over my shoulder in the loose pony tail as the wind blew my face to numbness. I looked down at the people passing by – mostly city workers and tourists, a couple of hooded youths about three hundred yards away. The wind blew again and my hair shook out in a fan of flame as the tie fell the thirty floors down. I was about to go back inside when out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement in the pedestrian traffic that was out of place. Two people stopped exactly at the same time, and looked up. Looked up at _me. _

I gazed at them, watching them, waiting for them to move, because the hell I was before them. The smaller one lifted her hood and the short dark hair flicked out prettily. It was the girl from the news. That report must have been taped earlier, tower bridge was at least half an hours walk from here. I gazed into her eyes and she gazed at mine. The corner of her mouth tugged up into an innocent smile.

Agony ripped through me as if my blood had been replaced with rusty barbed wire, and the bang as my head collided with the floor was as soft as feathers considering the torture that had me squirming and squealing. The room shook, or was it that my body was juddering so hard? I felt my fingernails breaking and my fingertips being splintered as I dragged my hands across the floor, trying to find something to hold, to drag myself away from the window. My throat burned and my ears rang – only when the pain suddenly stopped and the ringing was replaced with the buzz of traffic that I realised it was because I had screamed. My _fang-qui _ was totally silent, shocked and scared like a child it huddled in the corner of my mind and cowered. Neither of us had bee prepared for that, and I don't she had ever experienced being taken so off guard. I almost felt sorry for her.

A shadow passed over my face, and I felt a nudge at my shoulder. Katherine's face came into view, deep red, almost black eyes gazed down at me.

"You okay?" she asked. I almost laughed at the irony. But I was still in shock. What had just happened? What was that? Who were those vampires? Who was that girl? What did they want?

"Jane" I finally managed to whisper, as my memory of the half second before I had collapsed into a huddle of screaming came back. Her name was Jane. Pain Jane.

Her desire as she stared at me was to get my neck between her small girlish white hands.

**KATHERINE:**

So she was writing huh? I wondered briefly what she had to write about, but then thinking about her, and the blood underneath her skin, made the ache in my throat I had been diligently ignoring flare with rage. Inhaling sharply, I snatched my clothes from the top of my bag and darted back into the bathroom in my towel, slamming the door hard behind me and hearing the hinge bolts snap in the process. Thankfully the damn thing stayed standing, forming a barrier between me and her neck. A much needed barrier.

Looking in the steamy bathroom mirror at my wild eyes and frantic expression I knew I'd have to hunt soon if I was going to have a hope in hell of not ripping the siren's head off. But the thoughts of feeding were working me up again and so to distract myself I reached for the clothes and dressed, glancing in the mirror once more only to check I looked okay. Even frazzled, starving, stressed and unhappy I looked like a statue, soft hair brushing skin of porcelain. In the other room, voices from a television whispered and swirled.

In that moment, my mind jumped. I was seeing myself leaving the bathroom, walking to the bed, brushing the hair from Alaizabel's neck as she sat watching the screen, eyes frozen in fear and I chuckled against her skin and breathed in that scent before sinking my teeth straight in – who needed to hunt in secrecy when the perfect victim was waiting just a few feet from me in the other room? So young, and so much blood… With a crunch, the porcelain edging of the sink gave under my hands where I'd braced myself against its edge. Crumbs of white dust drifted to the floor from between my fingers and I groaned inwardly. More for room service to clear up.

Removing my hands from the sink to save any more unnecessary vandalism I sank down to curl on the floor. She was back in my mind. My doctor. There was no way I could lay a finger on alaizabel now I knew that she was her child – Dr. Greyson had been everything to me in that place – and Alaizabel was a siren no less. If I so much as split a crimson drop I'd be gone before I knew it, slaughtered by my darkest desire or whatever the heck Carlisle had said. The Cullens, their mansion…it all seemed so far away.

**CUT HERE – i think…. **

But my thoughts were broken by a scream. Leaping to my feet and smashing straight through the already ruined door in a moment of milliseconds, I burst into the bedroom to find Alaizabel writhing and contorting on the floor. The TV was blaring as a background to her screams, the open window allowing gusts of the London air through the closed curtains into the darkened room. But before I could act she was still, flat on her back and panting heavily, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"You okay?" I asked her warily, stretching out my leg to poke her in the shoulder with the toe of my shoe, not trusting myself to be any closer.

Her eyes, dark as engine oil, snapped open. "Jane."

The name rang a bell, I thought, blinking slowly. "Jane?"

"Yes." Alaizabel breathed, her chest heaving. "She's here – Jane's here."

Suddenly it all fell into place and my dead heart froze again as I realised just where I'd heard that name before. When I'd just started this life, when Amaryllis had explained the ground rules to me, she'd told me of them. The black cloaked ones, the true creatures of the night, the ancients – the Volturi. And Jane, their child protégée with the ability to burn on sight, who'd just burned Alaizabel.

My mind was joining the dots with frightening rapidity – people who kept the vampire law and acted as protectors of justice didn't torture the innocent. If Jane had seen Alaizabel, Alaizabel who was still human partly and part something else unknown to my kind, and burned her with her gaze then something was wrong. And if something was wrong, we had to run.

My body was moving before I'd even finished. I was yanking Alaizabel up off the floor in one movement, racing round the room to grab our bags in another, snatching my stolen car keys off the side and hauling her to the door in a third. She gave a squawk of protest as I threw her out and slammed the door behind us, tripping and stumbling as I began to pull her down the corridor of the hotel to the lift. Her pace was too slow, I snarled under my breath, and with a tug lifted her off her feet to tuck her under my arm. Much faster.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all my lovelies, nice to see you back again for our latest installment of the "storm" series. **

**Right so this is from Alaizabel's P.o.V and hopefully should leave you clamoring for more.**

**Read, review, but mostly lovelies ENJOY!**

Chapter 7: Going in for the kill.

As we bounded into the underground heated car park, the metal door peeling away from its hinges with a piercing shriek of metal as Katherine literally burst through it, it occurred to me that she was not the only vampire who could travel this fast.

"They'll get us!" I cried aloud, a childish way of trying to dispel a fear by bringing it out into the daylight to let it shrivel. The tactic failed miserably. I was possibly even more scared than I was before. Katherine didn't answer, but instead flung me into the passenger seat of a sports car and before I'd even hit the leather lining she was already behind the wheel and thrusting on the ignition. The streamlined car cleaved through the air, narrowly missed a few other expensive vehicles and we burst out of the gates and onto the main road, car horn blaring and lights flashing as we cut through the thick London traffic. Katherine started swearing just as loudly and crudely as the other drivers and although we were still going too fast for my comfort, I could tell that we were gradually slowing down, as with each corner the block of cars grew steadily heavier and tighter. London traffic was going to get us killed by no going fast at all.

Eventually, when we were a good two or three miles away from the hotel, did we come to a complete stand still.

"Bollocks!" Katherine cried, hitting the dash board with her fist so that cracks appeared in the thick glossy surface. She looked around impatiently, her wine-red eyes glancing every few seconds into the rear-view mirror, and each time the pupils dilated a fraction. Fear.

"We need to get out, we have to go on foot." I said, after finding my tongue, which had been stuck to the roof of my mouth in fright.

"What!?" she snarled glaring at me. Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel protectively. Her desires kept fluctuating and my head swam as she tried to focus on which one she would go with.

_I WANT TO KEEP MY CAR, IT'S MINE! – I WANT TO GET __**AWAY**__ FROM JANE - I DON'T WANT ALAIZABEL TO GET HURT – I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE MY CAR!_

Eventually, the loathing and fear that had made her hurtle away from the vampires on the television won.

"Out." She hissed. We left the car, sitting in the middle of rush hour traffic and headed for the busiest place we could. If they were going to try and attack us, they wouldn't risk doing it in front of the majority of London. Too many people, too many eyes. Too may witnesses.

"Ok, smart arse, what now?" Katherine rumbled as we walked briskly through the crowd, people parting to make room for her, but bumping repeatedly into my shoulders as they stared in awe at her. I was fighting to keep up with her as I replied.

"We need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere they won't guess."

"No shit Sherlock." Was the irate and watchful vampires reply.

"Hey!" I said, grabbing her shoulder to make her stop. "You asked _me_ what to do. I don't know what the hell's going on, so stop acting like it's my fault!"

"Fine. Where do you suggest we go then?" she grimaced.

"My flat. Battersea. We'll need to hurry though," I added, glancing worriedly around "they'll track us here in no time."

"Well incase you didn't notice, I can't exactly go full speed around here!" Katherine said through gritted perfect teeth. She was right. In our efforts not to be ambushed, we had picked a place that made it virtually impossible to escape quickly. A catch 22. Just by standing still we were attracted attention. I knew that our eyes were not noticeable this time of day, the dying light of the sky and the neon street signs cast colours his way and that, so it could easily be a trick of the light that made Katherine's eyes have that funny red glow, or that mine seemed so dark, shadowed in the hollows of my eye sockets. I wasn't going to leave the safety of the lights and people. If we moved quickly (in human terms) out in the open, then we could still make it without the threat of being cornered. I hoped. Katherine had other ideas.

"We need to go through the alleys." She said, already reaching out to grab my wrist and pull me along.

"No! They'll ambush us!" I cried, a bit too loudly as people walking past stared at my terror stricken face. A rubbish bin started to shake ominously as Katherine's temper became more stretched.

"We'll never make it your flat _at all_ if we don't go quickly. They'll trace your scent there when they figure out we're not in the car and-" she stopped in the middle of her sentence. Her face was already bone white but I'm sure it would have turned paler if it could.

"Jane!" she whispered, staring past me. I looked behind me, expecting to see that head of pretty dark hair bobbing a few feet away. I didn't see anything of the kind.

"At the end of the road" Katherine said as I stared at her in confusion. This time I didn't argue when she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the nearest dark turn, they blackness a sharp contrast to the heavily lit street outside and for a second my world was plunged into black. I could feel Katherine maneuvering me, putting me in a piggyback position across her spine and the wind whipping my hair. As my night vision arrived back in front of my eyes, I saw the quick flitting lights of a train at high speed. We had stopped beneath a bridge. Katherine was breathing in heavily and for a moment I thought she must be out of breath. Then I remembered what she was and guessed that she was trying to smell the ominous couple that had me quaking in my shoes. As her head turned this way and that to smell the air from all directions, I peered around. The tiny filthy cranny that we were in was lit by a single greenish light above a set of double door that were looked like a fire escape. The floor shook as a train went past but continued to hum – we were at the back of a night club, the bass pulsating through the concrete and rattling my bones. I shivered. Katherine's eyes snapped open as a slight breeze rustled.

"They're following us closely. They'll be here soon." She said quietly to the air. She looked at me then, and the expression that crossed her flawless divine face was shocking. It was concern. Not fear for her, nor terror at the undeniable danger, but concern. For _me._

_GET ALAIZABEL SAFE. DON'T LET THE VOLTURI FIND HER. _Her desire can across as clear as moonlight from her pale face.

In a second she was infront of my face and staring down into my eyes, communicating that obedience meant survival.

"You do what I say, understood?" she didn't wait for an answer. "When I open that door, you get inside and you find someone, anyone, and stick with them. Do not, under _any_ circumstances be by yourself. Not even for a second!"

I didn't have time to blink before she had wrenched open one of the thick metal doors wide enough for me to be shoved inside. As I stumbled through, I caught a glimpse of her face before the door was shoved shut again. Huge dark red eyes stared at me, and the heavenly face was twisted into an expression of grief. Was she mourning me? But before I could get a proper look, the door was closed and I heard the distinct sound of metal being twisted as she broke off the handles. It hit me then. Katherine wasn't going with me. She had abandoned me. I slammed into the door beating my fists hard and screaming her name, but even I couldn't hear my own voice over the speakers pumping out music left right and centre. There were so many people in here, the lights flashing on and off that no one even realised I had slipped in. I looked down at my clothes; jeans, trainers and a polo shirt – hardly club gear. I'd have to make the best of it I supposed.

_Find someone, anyone, and stick with them!_ Katherine's words shook in my ears like tinnitus. I ruffled my hair in an attempt to look bed-head and undid the top button on my shirt. If I was going to find someone in a night club, I'd have to do it the traditional way – flirting. Sidling up to the bar, I swayed my hips in what I prayed looked like a sexy strut. It must have worked, because I saw more than a few pairs of ogling eyes trained on me, or more specifically, my backside. I was so not used to this, but now was not the time for modesty. Very deliberately leaning forward as I ordered a drink, I glanced around, trying to look casual. I felt a tap on my shoulder and jumped, fearing the worst. I turned around to greet the eyes of a young man, perhaps early twenties, smiling at me and holding out a drink.

"it's on me" he said.

"Thanks." I replied, batting my eyelashes and patting his shoulder in what I hoped seemed _that_ kind of friendly.

"Look, let's cut to the chase" I said after about a minute. "You, me, my place? Cool?"

Even I was shocked at my own forwardness.

His green eyes lit up, and he turned to wave good bye to his friends as I placed his arm around my shoulder and led him outside. I caught the thumbs up he gave them and my nose wrinkled in disgust. His hands started wandering but I let them, because frankly, being groped right now was the least of my worries. As we went outside, I turned towards the direction of the alleyway instinctively, but he pulled me back.

"Babe, my car's this way." He said.

"Oh right! Of course." I giggled with sugar sweetness. I wasn't one to blow my own trumpet, but I was insistent that I should get an Oscar for this performance.

As we drove down the streets, his hand kept circling my knees and brushing up against my thigh. I had never been so grateful for wearing jeans!

We got to the flat and parked outside. I went to open my door but he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, what's the rush? You wanted to go fast. Let's go fast right here." His rather handsome face grinning. I didn't know what to do, I'd never even been on a date with a boy, let alone being propositioned by a man!

"Er-" was all I managed to get out before he clamped his face to mine, his tongue wriggling down my throat. The hands started to wander all over again, and I felt him reach for the zipper of my jeans.

"Hey, wait!" I said as I shoved him off. My fang-qui growled in my head and I pushed her back down. I wasn't going to hurt an innocent man, and I scowled harshly. He looked confused.

"Ok, so we'll wait til we get upstairs. Sorry." He said. And he meant it. I could see that his desire was not just to lay me, but to impress me as well. I almost felt sorry for him before I realised what the situation was.

"Listen, I'm really sorry I led you on, but I've got to go!" I said quickly getting out the car and fumbling for my keys as I headed for the door.

"Hey wait!" he yelled from the drivers seat, struggling to undo his seat belt.

"I'm really sorry!" I cried and I finally undid the lock and rushed inside.

"Bitch!" he yelled at me, and flipped me the finger before angrily speeding off into the distance.

I got into the lift and pressed the bottom for the penthouse apartment. My chest shook as I held down sobs and I glared at myself in the mirror. My hair was all messed up on one side from where that guy had pushed my into the back of the seat and my top was wrinkled. The enormous black eyes that gazed out from the reflection were accusing and wild. As I closed the door of my flat, I sank down and began to cry, letting out long harsh yelps of self-pity. And loss. I cried from loss. Katherine, who up until a day or two ago I had hated with every fiber of my being, and vice versa, had risked her life to save me. But she had still abandoned me. How was I going to outrun these Volturi now? I didn't know ANYTHING about them. All I know was that Katherine and Amaryllis had been terrified of them. I was totally and utterly alone.

Suddenly, my doorbell rang. Crap, it must have been one of my neighbours from down stairs. I didn't realize my crying could be heard. Wiping my face and brushing myself off, I opened the door.

"Alaizabel." Came the smooth honey voice of Edward Cullen.

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**SO? What are your thoughts? I am dying to know, it's always such a joy to see what you think. **

**Coming soon: we shall be getting an alternate perspective of this chapter. Keep reading!**

**-H.M.T**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey all, sorry about the delay but now it's half term I can really get cracking on with this! I know I said this chapter was going to be an alternate perspective of the previous one, but my Beta hasn't quite finished that yet so we're moving on and we'll bring you that one a little later.**

**Hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 8: Edward: Evil thy name is Jane.

"Alaizabel" I breathed as the door opened on the glassy eyed girl.

For a second, I was in a total state of shock before composing myself. She had changed so dramatically that had I been human, I would never have guessed that she and the girl I'd met in Forks almost four months ago was the same person.

She was taller. Much taller, edging on the five foot ten boundary. My eyes we so used to angling downwards to look at her face that it felt strange to look only a few inches below my nose. The hair was unnaturally long considering how short a time she'd been gone, and as I stared carefully at her scalp, I could see it growing, half a milimetre at a time. Far too fast for human hair to grow. And the colour! She'd had a reddish tint in her hair before, but now it was darker and deeper, a burnt copper colour that radiated heat.

But lastly were the eyes. Abnormally large staring black eyes, as if the oil spill in them had spread. There wasn't the slightest hint of colour in them, the purest deepest black I had ever seen. Hypnotic black. But the rims were puffy and red; the shine on the orbs was strong. She'd been crying, the salt from her tears wafted over and added more pungency to the already briny smell.

As her eyes took in my form, a small gasp caught in her throat and the hand jumped instinctively towards her face, covering the full lipped gape. Her gaze flitted behind me and her face tightened as she saw Carlisle and Alice there. Three pairs of honey gold eyes took in her form.

_What has that thing done to her?_ Carlisle thought with a great sadness.

_Where's Katherine, I can't smell her here! They must have got her, oh God, they've got her! _Alice's thoughts flickered between herself and at me. I shook my head a fraction of a centimeter to signal patience.

But it was Alaizabel's thoughts that were the most intriguing of all.

_No, not more vampires. I left you in Forks! __**GET OUT, WE DON'T NEED YOU! **__But I need you, I can't do this alone. __**YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON US, SHE'S MINE!**__ I'd wish I'd never met vampires. Why do they want me to come with them? Where're they going to take me? __**IF THEY TAKE US BACK TO THAT GODFORSAKEN TOWN I WILL MAKE IT MY TASK TO MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS HEAR THE RINGING, EDWARD CULLEN!**_

The thoughts were shambolic and broken, interweaved with the _fang-qui_. I raised my eyebrows in surprise as the foreign devil addressed me personally, but Alaizabel was unaware of her twin's thoughts. For that was how she viewed the thing inside her, as a twin.

But they had both guessed correctly. We were there to bring Alaizabel with us, to get her away from the Volturi. I recalled my conversation with my father and sister on the journey here…

"The Volturi know, we can't stop that, it would have happened by now." Alice said "But what we can do is make sure that they don't jump to conclusions. You know how unhappy they were about the Quileutes."

"So what? They're just as likely to turn upon us if we mediate, they might think we're harboring potentially harmful creatures to vampires. They don't take kindly to traitors." I snapped back.

"Not necessarily! They'll listen to _us!_ Aro will listen."

"Look at how they'll treat Katherine!" I snarled, remembering the image of the shaking, agony riddled vampire.

"She may have vexed them. She doesn't know our way well enough to respect them. And she was up against Jane. We all know what she's like." Carlisle added.

I snarled. We were going to have to go back to the ancient halls of Volterra and face the angelic faces of malice all over again. I feared for my family first: would they punish us? Interrogate us as they had with Katherine. I was rarely scared, but the idea of losing my family, for being responsible for their demise made me hate the dead perfect skin of my body as it crawled. But a voice reminded me of Alaizabel. As foolish and dangerous as she was, I still felt rather guilty for her. Because _I_ had heard her fang-qui that day back in Forks everything had started. If only I had just let the matter go. But she was my responsibility now. I had a duty, and I refused to let myself become more shamed by ignoring her in this time of great need. And danger. _Very_ great danger.

Back in the present Alaizabel had let us into the apartment and had gone to grab some water for herself in the kitchen on Alice's recommendation. The girl looked on the verge of collapse and I could hardly blame her.

I gazed around the place and was met with an aesthetic pleasure. Everything was modern and cleaned to perfection, the glass flawless and as reflective a mirror. But at the same time it was cold. Not in temperature, but in attitude. There were no pictures, paintings sculptures. No ornamentations at all. The remote controls for the TV were placed on a bare coffee table in a perfect row. It looked more like a showroom than a home.

A hiccoughing heartbeat alerted me that she was back in the room. We all turned around to see the scared teenager glaring at us with apprehension. Her hand encompassed the glass she was holding. I hadn't noticed quite how long and spindly her fingers had become. They looked like they could pick a lock.

"Where are you going to take me?" She asked at length. I immediately wished she hadn't asked.

"What's wrong? Why don't you want me to know?" She hissed, black eyes targeting me.

"It's not that," Alice interjected "it's just very complicated and we don't have time to explain. But please trust us." She laid a paper white hand on the Siren's shoulder, and I saw her shiver. The untrusting eyes searched our faces, looking for the tiniest movement, the flicker at the back of the eyes of deceit.

"Fine, I'll go. But I warn you," She added darkly "If you so much as attempt to hurt me, I'll let **her** loose. I swear."

Her mind however was telling a very different story.

_I can't let her loose out of water long enough to hurt them, she'll kill our body! Why did I say that, why why why?! If it comes to that, I'm totally fucked. I have nothing. Besides, __**she**__ never worked on the Cullens. Idiot Idiot IDIOT girl!!!_

"I promise it won't come to that." Carlisle said. "Alice, pack some of her things. We need to go now." He said, his warm, trustful eyes never leaving Alaizabel's face.

She visibly melted underneath them and a slight hint of a smile played across her face. It looked wrong. That face was not meant for smiling and niceties. It was designed to kill. I turned away in disgust but caught myself in a high polished window pane. Designed to kill. I retracted my thoughts of distaste for her as I remembered how it was my kind, who were just as deadly.

It was time vampires had a predator, whether she knew she was or not.

**********

We were on the street outside the apartment block. Dressed in the newest clothes Alice could find in her wardrobe, Alaizabel's smell was diluted slightly beneath the overpowering stench of fabric preservative. It might be enough to get us away from the Volturi scouts while in Battersea, but not enough to get us out of London. She shivered beside me, but I hardly noticed as my eyes, and that of my family, were searching the dark places, the nooks and crannies. Waiting for a shift within the shadows. We got to the door and opened in a quietly as we could. The tension around me set my teeth on edge, and I accidentally pushed Alaizabel into the seat a little too hard. Her knuckles scraped the door handle and I suddenly saw everything in a fine red haze. I stiffened, just as Alice and Carlisle did.

Blood.

But not just any blood. Siren blood. It was only minute amount, not even enough to cover a pin head but I was enough to set alarm bells ringing. Alaizabel hadn't noticed her knuckles but was watching us intently, mistrust oozing from every pore. Mistrust and that potent smell of salt.

I heard a whisper of something plummeting through the air and turned back to the apartment block. A crunching smack reverberated in the shadows as what ever had fallen collided with the concrete. Fear and impossibility gripped me, Alice and me instinctively shifting so that we hid Alaizabel. The girl for once stayed perfectly silence.

Everything was silent.

Carlisle finally took a step forward, looking for an explanation. The wind blew in our direction. Human flesh was on the breeze, but recently dead. I was confused and wary to say the least. Then, I heard a small giggle. For a millisecond I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but then I figured it out. I hadn't looked _up_.

Jane stood atop the building and smiled, eyes almost florescent red from here. She jumped, nose-diving straight into the ground before righting herself at the last minute. The concrete buckled under her and cracked, long veins running through it and spreading in a circle. The boom of her landing was masked only by the passing noise of a train.

A gasp from behind me. Alaizabel had peered around to get a look, and now her mind was gibbering and quailing like a child. The _fang-qui _merely growled hungrily.

"Carlisle, Edward, Alice." Jane greeted, her pretty young face beaming. It didn't fool me for a second.

"I see you've found the double-soul for me. So thoughtful of you. Now hand it over." She said politely, hand outstretched.

"I think Jane that you and I should talk first." Carlisle answered, wary of her paralyzing power.

"Oh, I've done enough talking for this evening. First with that other vampire, she really was too rude. I had to teach her a lesson," Jane said, eyes flickering upwards as she inspected her nails, and grinning malevolently. I curled my lips in disgust. So she had found Katherine. I hoped with every ounce of my body that she had put up a good fight first.

"And then there was that man that the double-soul was with. He didn't say much but he tasted rather good." She finished, looking directly at Alaizabel as she said it. Alaizabel made a choked noise of shock and horror, and Jane's smile spread further. That was the smell of the dead body. Jane's hapless victim. I wondered who he was, and why he'd been with Alaizabel, but it was of no importance. I growled at the idea that she had just tossed him from a building top like a piece of garbage.

_Give it up, Cullen. _Jane thought at me _I have the other vampire as well, and Aro is on his way as we speak. You think we won't just follow you again if you run. You think we won't fight? Not that you'd fight me, not after last time. _She hissed inside.

My fist was balled up with frustration and I lashed out at a lamppost to vent. A dent the perfect shape and size of my hand was knocked into the thick green post, the whole lamp had tilted, so the light was angled across Jane's face, the perfect carved hollows emphasized in the dramatic lighting.

I was frustrated because she was right on so many different levels. I wouldn't fight her, because firstly it would be pointless. Her mind fire would have all four of us unable to move in unbearable agony, there would be no way I could resist. And I was not going to put Carlisle and Alice through what I had already experienced. Never again.

And the Volturi _would_ hunt us. Aro had an insatiable curiosity and much like a bulldog, once he was fixated on something, he never let it go until he'd torn off enough flesh to satisfy him.

"Very well." I agreed. Two pairs of honey eyes and one pair of black stared at me in a mixture of confusion, terror and betrayal. The red eyes ahead of me glittered in victory.

"But," I added quickly "We will escort her. We should explain what we know." I said.

As we walked with Jane at our head, I looked at Alice.

"We'll figure something out, won't we?" I murmered

_How should I know? The Siren blocks the future!_ She answered internally.

_I really hope you have a plan_, Carlisle thought. _I may be their ally, but I doubt even that will really stop them._

We piled into the back of a black Bentley, a driver at the wheel who smelt firmly of human. I let Carlisle get in first, then Alice, keeping my eyes firmly on the ground in a mixture of contemplation and shame.

But my eyes snapped up of their own accord as Alaizabel came to step into the car. Her huge unforgiving black eyes rested on mine and I felt my icy skin crawl.

_**IF THOSE VAMPIRES TRY ANYTHING, I'LL KILL THEM. **_The _fang-qui_ warned. Although she had protested earlier that without water she was helpless, there was something in its voice, something in the way it seethed with a quiet fatal vengeance that left in me no doubt that what she promised was true.

_**AND IF YOU TRY IT EITHER, I'LL KILL YOU TOO.**_

*************************************************

**Right so what are everybody's thoughts? HMMMM? I am so intrigued! This was so fun to write, I've never written a chapter with so much suspense!!**

**Hope you all enjoyed it and keep an eye out for the next chapter! It only gets better and more dramatic!**

**-HMT**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey all! Right so this is the chapter that my Beta has been working on with me. This is an alternate perspective chapter to Chapter 7. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Katherine: Knockout

I grabbed Alaizabel, hurling us both down the stairs at breakneck speed. The door to the car park stood no chance - I was already unlocking the doors of my car by the time it had finished protesting on its metal hinges, a good knuckle shaped dent left in the centre.

"They'll get us!" The Siren squealed hysterically, and mentally I felt my temper flare - like hell were these Volturi, the ones of which Amaryllis had warned me, laying hand on Dr. Greyson's daughter, even if she was a monster. As the fine-tuned engine snarled into life beneath me and we sped out roaring into the evening streets of London, it was all I could do to stop the glass on the windows rippling.  
_  
_I fought to control my temper. The glass dials on the dashboard were creaking ominously, a streetlamp behind us shattering as we shot past. Curses flew from behind my lips at the fellow road users - of all the evenings to behave like complete prats in their four-wheeled-tin-cans they just had to pick this one! Alaizabel's knuckles were white as she gripped the seat beside me, and I felt a fleeting burst of dark humor that of all things it was my driving that had her that scared.

But we weren't driving for long. Exactly 2.7 miles from the hotel, we hit traffic. Not just slow moving traffic, but dead-end-spaghetti-tangle-nightmare lanes of cars. Instantly my hand twitched for the reverse, but a small red Audi pulled in behind us. Perfect. Now we were wedged.

My eyes flicked to and fro, checking the front and back mirrors. Fast as we had travelled we were still too close. Any vampire worth a fraction of their weight in gold would be able to track us from that hotel, especially now that we were a pair of damn sitting ducks.

My temper snapped, and irritably I went to slap the dashboard of the car, but unable to bring myself to break the sleek automobile I let my hand rest down to rest lightly on the dark surface- my power on the other hand was less easy to control - and long spider-cracks appeared around my fingers.

"Bollocks!" I swore loudly. Alaizabel jumped.

"We have to get out, we have to go on foot." She was scared, I could see it in her wide, quivering face.

"What?!" I snapped back - I was resolute, there was no way I was leaving my car, but then reasoning kicked in. If we were out, we would at least be moving, and I could run with Alaizabel one my back. Self preservation won out over love of luxury.

"Out." I hissed.

Having dodged the honking of irate drivers and found our way safely to the pavement full of people, I turned and began walking, Alaizabel stumbling to keep up with me. Busy, I rationed out, head for busy places and it would be harder for them to smell us. In the back of my throat a furnace flared as the scent of a thousand different heartbeats bombarded my senses but I cautioned my thirst with a steely resolve quite unlike my normal willpower. Now was not the time to do a Dracula, not if I wanted to keep Dr. Greyson's kid safe.

As we stalked through the evening crowds, blurred memories flashed back, of a younger me following a laughing woman with flowing red hair down a packed street on the way to the theatre. How the roles had changed I mused - now I was leading and a siren was trotting hot on _my_ heels. But we were not heading for death, not while I was here. Not this time.

Pushing the memories away I shot a glance over my shoulder at Alaizabel, panting and flushed as she followed my wake. "Okay, smart arse, what now?"

"We need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere they won't guess." She puffed back.

I rolled my eyes tersely at the statement of the blinding obvious. "No shit Sherlock."

She grabbed at my shoulder attempting to haul me back a step. I obliged.

"Hey! You asked me what to do. I don't know what the hell's going on, so stop acting like it's my fault." She protested.

Okay, so maybe I had been a little harsh, I reasoned, trying to fight the urge to break her fingers for shouting at me like that. "Fine. Where do you suggest we go then!"

"My flat. Battersea. We'll need to hurry though." Her darks eyes flicked wildly round our settings. "They'll track us here in no time."

Again a temper flare - did she think I was not aware of the danger we were in, being stalked round London by a mob of ancient blood-suckers?

"Well encase you didn't notice, I can't exactly go full speed round here!"

If we could just break away from the crowds, get somewhere quiet, then I could run. I mean, _really_ run, and break us out of this damn city before anything got worse. But there were no quiet spaces in London, save a few parks. Then an idea caught me.

"We need to go through the alleys."

Alaizabel was looking scared again, shaking her head as she took a step away from me. "No! They'll ambush us!"

First she wanted a miracle rescue, now she was looking like I'd just said I was going to bite her there and then - my temper was shot and a rubbish bin to our left began to rumble and shake as though an earthquake point 7 on the Richter scale was striking. With a deep calming breath more from habit than need, wincing at the sweet cloying taste in the air, I went to explain.

"We'll never make it to your flat _at all_ if we don't go quickly. They'll trace your scent there when they figure out we're not in the car and-" It hit me. _Sweet cloying scent. _Vampire scent - that was not my own - I spun. At the far end of the long street, dark hair bobbing, and a pale flash of alabaster skin –

"Jane!"

The siren was turning to look, her mortal eyes straining to see the vampires on our tail that I could see all too clearly.

"At the end of the road!" I spat, frustrated that she could not see the danger. Grabbing the siren and pulling her into the nearest dark opening I could find.

I. Had. To. Run - all my sense were screaming, and briefly I considered leaving her there to make a break for freedom on my own.  
As I slammed her into a wall in my haste to get her into the alley, her fan fanned out over my hair. The smell overpowered everything – salt. I remembered her mother, the doctor who had helped me at my lowest. A hollow feeling in my stomach built and I finally recognised it as guilt. How could I leave her. Dr. Greyson would have died for nothing. God, if she was watching over me, I hoped she wasn't scouling. I grabbed Alaizabel's arms, hauling her onto my back in a rough piggy-back, leaping up the nearest wall as I did so. In no time we were racing off over the rooftops, our lives dependent on how fast I could go.

And then I realised - it was only one life at stake here. I couldn't die. There were two of them, so no matter how fast I went they'd track us and trap us. For Adele's memory I had to give her daughter a fighting chance, and so that was what I would do. I'd fight them.

Dropping down into yet another alleyway I let the shivering, cringing Alaizabel off my back. Breathing in sharply, I realised they weren't there yet. I still had some time to get her away to safety before the inevitable conflict began. We had come down at the behind the back of a nightclub, and even without my enhanced senses the sound of pounding base and the stench of damp and old urine were evident. A slight breeze moved the air - they were coming. Alaizabel was looking to me with huge black eyes. She was terrified.

Taking pity I explained. "They're following us closely, they'll be here soon."

She nodded, dark eyes wide as she scanned the night fearfully. I felt an overwhelming rush of unexplainable regret, but forced it back; reminding myself I had a job to do. Gripping the top of her arm, I steered her to the back door of the nightclub, reaching with my other hand to the sleek cold handle. As I gripped her arm too hard I could feel the capillaries bursting beneath the skin as a palm shaped bruise started to form. Salt was climbing up my nose and scratching the back of my throat. I growled as I focused myself on my task.

"You do what I say understood? When I open that door, you get inside and you find someone, anyone, and stick with them. Do not, under any circumstances, be by yourself. Not even for a second!"

Part of me wished I had longer to impress on her the importance of my instructions - to spell out in no uncertain terms that there was still only a miniscule chance she would live, a fraction that this would work. But time was up. The clock hand was ticking till they joined us - I could hear their footsteps already.  
With a yank, I broke the handle and opened the door, pushing the siren in with one hand and slamming it shut again with the other. The broken handle I'd salvaged twisted easily under my fingers to form a lock, not enough to keep vampires out, but enough to keep a teenage siren in.

The image of her horrifically black eyes staring with incomprehension as what I'd told her had yet to sink in seared itself at the back of my red retinas. She was like a child, she didn't know anything. She couldn't defend herself. I had never felt maternal instinct towards anything, and I still didn't, but the feeling of loss that was creeping up my icy spine was unsettlingly similar.

But now I had to move. My sense of urgency returned and I was up the wall and back onto the rooftops again - running, but for a different purpose. I had to make a trail, draw them off. The clump of hairs I'd stolen from Alaizabel's head when I'd pushed her into the nightclub fluttered unceremoniously down to land on a passing chimneypot, a scrap of torn material from the back of her shirt wedged under a roof tile - I needed more time. Double back, dart in and out a window, perch on a ledge for the moment, do anything that would bring me into contact long enough to leave scent worth tracking.

Now just to find the perfect place to make my stand, the strategic point from which I could fight multiple opponents and win. I needed to make sure that if they came here - no, when they came here - it would be me they found, not another scent leading back to the Siren.

The sound of footsteps caught my ear, male and female humans, heading this way. Not now, I cringed, even though I was pretty famished now was not the time for food. My mind was already two steps ahead, calculating exactly how I could bring down twin targets but I forced myself to focus. Time to hunt vampires, not dinnertime. Then a breeze blew. Salt was on the air.

A window to my left blew with my temper - that damn siren! Could I not leave Alaizabel _anywhere_ without her fucking it up?! The blowing breeze had moved the air, carrying their scents and informing me that she and whatever half-wit-life-form mortal she had with her were heading straight towards my perfect trap. _Sod's bloody law_ I growled inwardly. Any other human would run a mile from the dark side street I'd chosen to hover in waiting, and yet here she was walking bold as brass straight towards it. I stilled the growl that threatened to rise in my chest, waiting anxiously to see if she would enter, hoping fingers crossed she passed me by; I did not want my trail undone, for her scent to cross mine, to create conflicting paths and draw our followers off. Every footstep brought her closer. Gritting my teeth, I tried to think of a way to signal them or perhaps turn them away - make some sort of noise perhaps? Blow something up? My eyes caught a drain cover in the street - if I could focus long and hard enough I could blow that, which would certainly create a big enough diversion….

Narrowing my eyes, I centered squarely on the drain cover. I'd never tried to use my ability like this, normally just letting it fly out when my temper was up, never trying to channel or manipulate it in some way. My mind resisted and I pushed harder. Each footstep was bringing her closer. I thought of angry things, things that got me worked up, trying to summon my power. She was coming closer. Desperation set in and I gripped my hands tightly on the banister of the fire-escape stairwell I was perched on. It wasn't working. Every fiber of my immortal being was straining to lift the damn thing and it just wasn't working.

I was so focused I didn't notice their approach.

One moment I was staring at the drain cover and the next was unimaginable pain.

*

Pain. Three seconds, four seconds. I was burning and there was no relief. Just flames. Someone had finally tried to kill me and was burning my body.

*

*

Was it starting to ease? I could feel my fingers I thought briefly - and then ice. Frozen and burned simultaneously. Someone was screaming, my ears informed me, screaming in my voice with ear piercing frequency. Glass was breaking, tinkling melodically to the floor, the harmony at odds with the sheer pain in those screams. I would give anything to stop the pain - my life, Alaizabel's, all the people in London's, I'd tear the world apart piece by piece if I could just stop that incessant pain.

*

And then it was gone.

I was lying on the ground, the tips of my hair soaked in some puddle of unmentionable liquid, a crushed beer can pressing into the small of my back. Around me lay glittering fragments of glass, dust from brick rubble - clearly some high-scale demolition had occurred. In a millisecond I flipped upwards into standing position, the imprint of my body where I'd fallen from my perch a floor up onto the pavement below had left a comic-style imprinted outline. But there was little time to appreciate the humor. My settings didn't keep my attention for long as I noticed them waiting for me. The chase was over and I'd been wrong. There had been three Volturi vampires on my tail - two males and her - the burner - Jane.

She met my horrified gaze with a light smile, twiddling her fingers in an absurd greeting. "Hello."

I snarled and her grin vanished.

"How rude," She said, raising one perfect eyebrow and the pain was back.

*

Seconds later and my eyes were flashing open again. I was back on the floor, a different position this time, with one leg bent under the other, hands curled over my face. I rose quickly to my feet, wary. Jane smiled.

"Shall we start again?"

I frowned. "What do you want?"

One of the males behind her chuckled, and Jane's eyebrows furrowed.

"Let's have a little politeness please. Don't want to end up on the floor again after all. "

I blanched inwardly, swearing at the same time. _Little bitch._

She continued smoothly. "We're looking for someone."

"I don't know who you mean." I lied with equal fluidity. She tutted.

"I think we both know that's not true." A spasm of heat shot through me and my knees buckled, a small gasp escaping through my lips.

"Easy Jane," one of the males at her shoulder lifted his hand, touching the top of her arm in a warning. She shrugged him off, and harrumphed.

"You try Adam."

The vampire looked to me. "We want the double-soul. She's human, but smells of the brine. Red hair, black eyes. You know of whom I speak, don't you?"

His description fitted Alaizabel exactly and I wondered just what they were after in her. Was it this double soul, as they put it? She hadn't mentioned meeting any vampires to me, and it occurred to me I'd been so panicked when Alaizabel had collapsed and we'd seen them at the hotel that I hadn't paused to think about the reason behind their sudden appearance. _Why do they need the Siren?_ I thought, running furiously through all my memories of her in a bid to fathom a reason. I had none.

Jane took my silence for a refusal to co-operate and frowned, her angelic features creasing. "We saw her riding your back as you leapt around the rooftops like a pair of monkeys."

The disapproval in her tone was evident and I felt a flare of anger - I did not like being told what to do, much less by this girl. A few loose stones began to vibrate about me. Jane's frown deepened.

"Stop that!" Was that fear in her tone I heard? I allowed a smirk to grace my face, lips stretching backwards to reveal white teeth.

"Stop what?"

Her eyes narrowed at my play of innocence. "Unless you want to go flat on your back again little one, keep control".

The warning got my back up but the idea of that pain again was not one that appealed to me, and so I reined my temper it - just.

"What do you want with Alaizabel?" I'd attempted to inject a tone of authority, but instead it came out vaguely demanding, a child's voice.

"Alaizabel." The other male with dark long hair mused, running the unfamiliar sounds of the word over his tongue "Unusual. But appropriate I guess for such a rare specimen."

I didn't like the way this one talked at all. Specimen - a cold clinical word for a mortal - surely anyone who used such a word for an individual could not have good intentions.

"She's not a _specimen_, she's a person."

"Wrong again. We have it on good authority that that girl is anything but mortal." Her voice was harsh, but on registering my frown her eyes lit with speculation. "Although - you seem close to her. Tell me, little one, if she's not a specimen what exactly is she?"

The same male who'd described Alaizabel earlier leaned forward, crimson eyes alive with interest. "Yes - do tell - I've been aching to know ever since I smelt her at the park."

I took a step backwards. All of a sudden all three vampires were looking very interested. And they didn't know Alaizabel was a siren. Briefly I debated running but shook the idea off, I'd been flat on my back before I could go very far. Was there harm in divulging the fact Alaizabel was a siren? The Cullens had certainly known her for what she was, so maybe sirens were a common occurrence in the vampire world? I really didn't know enough to judge this with the certainty that seemed required. The Volturi were people who tortured with pain, they had attacked Alaizabel a the hotel and stalked us halfway across London, which was bad, but would me telling make things worse? Jane was becoming bored, her small foot tapping on the floor as her patience wore thin. I had to answer I realised - I had to answer soon.

"Please." The other male was saying, his tone placatory. "All we want is to know. Then we'll leave you alone."

My decision was made. I had no guarantee of what they'd do if they found out what Alaizabel was and I hardly had a reason to co-operate.

"She's human." I kept my tone flat, devoid of emotion. "She's a normal human."

Jane's face twitched and then moulded itself into an angelic smile. "Liar."

And the pain was back. I tried to fight it this time, but still it got the better of me and I was writhing on the floor in agony.

"You are a liar, vampire." Jane was saying. "But it's of no matter. There's really no point trying to hide her. We know where she is. We have our own personal tracker" she gestured to the brawny dark haired male.

"Now, tell us what she is."

Through the dimness of the unending pain I knew I had to move. There was no compassion in her voice, and if I didn't do something they were going to kill me. There were no illusions now - I didn't know how, but I would die. If only this god-awful pain would let me think, just stop my limbs contracting and my head from reeling and my stomach from lurching and let me go. But it didn't. It was as unrelenting as… as something unrelenting… my brain was giving up trying to function coherently. Pain was taking over.

Someone was touching my neck and their fingers seared my skin. A voice enquiring, "But what about her power? It must be of some use - such destructive capability - surely if she could be taught to target…?"

"We don't make concessions Demetri." Jane was sounding bored and vaguely annoyed as she interrupted him I realised through the haze of agony.

"But surely?" He pressed the issue, seeming reluctant to let it go.

"We should let Aro decide." Adam inputted emotionlessly.

Jane snapped back. "Every second we waste that double-soul is getting further away, and Aro doesn't-!"

Adam and Demetri both snarled at her. She had over stepped an unspoken mark and I grinned inwardly as I imagined her being scared of these two males. _Serves you right, cow._

"Fine," She said at length, as if obliging persistent children. "She stays – good lick to Aro to find a use for that" she sneered, kicking me so that I flew into a brink wall, dust covering me like a gossamer blanket and the whole building groaning.

A pair of huge cold hands grabbed me under each arm pit. I was thrown into the back of an enourmous car and I caught sight of my eyes in the rear view mirror. The black was almost as bad as Alaizabel's had been. Oh god, without blood soon I would be powerless. Or at least that's how I felt. But before the door was closed on me, I heard a brief conversation that made me use the last of my energy to burst every street light within a two mile radius in fury.

"Take her to the base." Jane snapped.

"Wait, where are you going?" Adam retorted.

"You're going after the Cullens aren't you?" Demetri answered for her.

"yes. Where are they?" She asked. Was she talking to herself.

"At the apartment building. With the double-soul" Demetri seemed to reply. How could he know that?!

"Hmm, annoying interveners aren't they? Oh well. They're all mine now." Jane replied.

I could practically feel her hell red glitter in murderous excitement.

***********

**So? What's everybody thinking? Y'all better be excited for the next chapter where Katherine, Alaizabel and The Cullens reunite for a hearing with the Volturi leader Aro! *gasp***

**-HMT**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello gorgeous people, and welcome back to the latest chapter of "the Raging Storm"!**

**Right so, pulled straight back into the story, we will now see a rather shocking plot twist that will hopefully leave you all writing those reviews in utter astonishment *hintbloodyhint* :D**

**Enjoy, as always!**

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Chapter 10: Carlisle: The lesser of two very large evils.

As we pulled up outside St. Paul's cathedral, I flicked my gaze towards Edward and asked silently, _what does Aro want?_

His careful eyes looked back at me as his shoulders shrugged a milimetre upwards and back down again. Enough so that any vampire watching him directly could see, but not a sudden enough movement to get Jane's suspicion roused. We couldn't have that, at any cost. We all climbed out fluidly except Alaizabel, who stumbled somewhat out of the large ostentatious car, as she refused my hand to help her. Her ankle turned as she slipped on the wet, slick cobbles and she let out a small cry out pain. Only then did she begrudgingly accept my arm, hobbling step by step towards the nicely tucked away stair case that lead down to the bank of the Thames from street level. Jane led the way at the front, while the driver brought up the rear. Although he was human, he had been just as arrogant and distasteful as any Volturi henchman. He probably was promised a turning after servitude for a number of years, his loyalty to such literally blood-thirsty creatures insinuated such a trade. _Fool, _I thought as I looked at his flat, pitiless eyes which glared back in haughtiness, _they'll drain you and snap your neck. Why would they want to waste such a good meal?_

Edward turned to look back at me, his expression twitching in confusion. When I clarified mentally about whom I was thinking, the corner of an eyebrow cocked with mirthless humor – I had been spot on about the trade.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and walked along the mud and shingle; the miniscule light from the orange lamps above and the clacking of the pebbles as the water washed over them hid us from the hearing and sight of any potential passers by. Besides, they would probably be pre-occupied with looking at the Millennium Bridge, not what was _underneath_ it.

Alaizabel's breathing was becoming labored and shallow, hyperventilating at whatever horror she imagined lay ahead. As I looked at her face in concern, the tiniest reflection bounced off either cheek – tears formed a glassy sheen on the contours of the face as they fell like rain water. Alice gripped her hand so that now she was supported on either side, and she clung on desperately. However much she may have loathed us, her fear of these Volturi outweighed it inconceivably more. Jane opened a thick stone door that was craved into the pillar that held up the bridge – how clever to build an entrance for vampires that would take a vampires strength to open it. No wonder the humans of London had never traditionally believed that their city housed vampires. No, the English were far more accepting of ghosts. But these sightings of pale women wandering the streets, or long dead owners of houses were false; all an illusion for money. But now, I wondered, could some of them have been the London based Volturi? Pale skin, perfection, never out in the sunlight, and never ageing – features that corresponded to both Vampires and shades of scary stories.

We walked down the narrow corridor in absolute silence, the occasional dripping of the dampness overhead tinkling down from the ceiling. The air was thick and heavy with vampire scent. Not just recent, but almost soaked into the mortar of the huge stone slabs that made the walls, a scent that had had centuries to permeate and settle. This was a very old and frequently used vampire nest. How I had never heard about it, even in my years with the Volturi was a mystery to me.

Jane, further ahead than the rest of us, opened yet another door, and the glare or thousands of orange lamps shone from the arch. Alaizabel gripped my hand tightly enough that had my skin not been diamond hard, the bones beneath them would have fractured for sure. Her breathing had slowed all the way down, as now the survival instinct started to take over, and I'm sure the _fang-qui_ was preparing for the worst. I prayed to whatever force there was that Alaizabel stayed totally human through these proceedings, we didn't want to give the Volturi an excuse to kill.

We stepped into the light, a huge gray stone hall opened out in front of me. The setting was antique, a forgotten hideaway underneath the cathedral that reflected the time of it's construction. Around the edges of the room, hundreds of doors identical to the one we had just entered from. The hall was lit with forty seven wrought iron chandeliers, that each held seventy two thick white candles, so that there was not a single square centimeter that was in shadows. The hall gleamed with wealth and pride – a very strong signal to whoever entered.

_I understand you Aro; you are just as powerful here as you are in Italy. Now what do you want?_ I pondered worriedly.

A large carved ebony throne sat at the furthest end of the hall, a sat in the velvet cushioned seat was the Volturi leader. His milky red eyes flickered over all of us and a charmed smile stretched his lips across the translucent white face. Jane strode over and stood by his side, while the human driver come escort disappeared out through a different door, leaving us listening to the echo of the door being bolted resonating around the massive hall.

"Carlisle! And family of course. Delightful to see you again." He called out, his cheerful voice sinister. He stood up, and began to walk forwards, his look trained on the trembling Siren next to me. Her body became rigid and cold under his gaze.

"And of course this double-soul. I've been looking forward to meeting you very much." He smiled, flashing a set of white teeth. I glanced down at Alaizabel and was shocked to see not the terrified face she wore as she had limped down the black corridor, but a cold unfaltering stare that seemed to amuse Aro more than was correct.

"Tell me, Edward," he mused, his eyes still firmly trained on Alaizabel "what is it's name?" Edward opened his mouth, his eyes glaring hatefully.

"_Her_ name -."

"My name is Alaizabel Greyson." The Siren interrupted. We all looked at her now.

"Well, Alaizabel Greyson, I can see that you are clearly used to being around our kind." He flicked his gaze at me with a message of disapproval embedded within it.

"So I am sure that you are aware, that some of us posses little 'talents'. Edwards and Alice's for example." She didn't answer, but this seemed to spur Aro further.

"Then, let me explain my little gift. I can see everything that you have ever thought, which I'm sure you will agree saves so much idle prattle. If I may?" He reached out his hands towards her face, but Alice, Edward and I stepped in front of her protectively.

"You are already in hot water, Cullens" Jane sneered as she stepped next to Aro. "Don't provoke us further."

Aro merely smiled smugly, they way a child might when they have an infallible argument over an adult.

"Carlisle, I suggest you control your family. It's not like you to be so… loose reined." Aro said.

Reluctantly, I stepped out of Aro's way and bade my family do the same. Edward glared at me as if I had practically offered up the girl on a platter. Perhaps that would have been better.

Aro's whiter fingers slithered through the air and caught a distressed red curl of Alaizabel's hair, cutting off a strand with his fingernails. He held his fingers back to his face and sniffed the limp strand of hair that was even more vibrant in colour in contrast to his chalky hands.

"My, Adam was right about the scent. How oddly delectable. Very salty." He murmured. Dropping the clump of hair onto the floor, his hands reached out again for Alaizabel's. As soon as the icy white grasped the thin elongated fingers of the Siren, a satisfactory grin spread across his face.

"Interesting, incredibly interesting." He mused. "So, you are a Siren?" he held up the spider like hands and inspected them carefully. The whole time Alaizabel stood as still and cold as stone. Her fingers stretched out further that Aro's as he held them palm to palm with his own, which were already long and elegant. Jane's eyes glittered in frustration.

"My lord, must we really-"

"Jane, have patience." He purred. "Cullens, a word with you if you please." He asked, motioning to one of the gilt doors.

We walked with him, leaving Alaizabel with Jane standing next to her, the Siren's alien human face staring with fear and defiance at a godly perfect oval of white. Jane glanced at me as we walked away, and smirked. I felt my diamond skin crawl with disgust.

As Aro closed the door, Edward stiffened and glared at Alice in horror. She returned the amber eyed gaze with equal distress. Clearly she had seen something that was very bad news. But I did not have time to ask, as Aro began to speak.

"Carlisle, I would have thought that after all we'd been through, you would have brought such a fascinating subject to me." he said.

"I would have, but we we're trying to find out every first. You know what a perfectionist I am." I replied, trying to keep the tone light. It died as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Yes well. I can see that she is a bit of a loose cannon. And as for her double-soul," he reached out in the blink of an eye and touched Edward on the shoulder. Aro furrowed his thick eyebrows in contemplation.

"She is dangerous. Even to vampires. From what I've seen, it almost seems as if they were built specifically to harm us." He wondered aloud. I was uneasy with where the conversation was heading. I flashed a glance at Edward, who had one hand to his temple, his eyes screwed tight in concentration. I could only imagine what he was thinking.

"If we leave her with you, will we – will we be free to go?" He asked suddenly. Alice, Aro and I stared at him in incomprehension, but only Aro looked pleasantly surprised. Alice and I wore identical masks of shock at the unthinkable act of betrayal.

"Why, of course Edward! I have seen everything I need to. Besides, she is no concern of yours, as you saw yourself she cannot affect you. It is time we investigated a more traditional way." Aro looked intensely at Edward, like he was eager to hear Edward say it aloud.

Edward stared at Alice long and hard before he replied.

"She is yours."

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**SO?! What are your reactions to Edwards' betrayal?! Fear not, everything will be explained in the next chapter or two, but I would very much like to hear your ideas as to why he has done such a thing!!!!!**

**Love you all!**

**-HMT**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey allll! Sorry about the delay – major upheaval of school= little time for anything other than essays! Hope you guys like this chapter, it's Edwards PoV of the previous chapter and MANY things are revealed. **

**Read review, but of course ENJOY!**

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Chapter 11: Edward: The lesser of two very large evils - II

Carlisle's voice resonated inside my head as I glared at the window right into my own reflection.

_What does Aro want?_

I carefully crawled my gaze towards him, and with deliberate action, shrugged my shoulders a minuscule amount. Jane luckily wasn't paying attention to the back cab of the car; her eyes were scanning the huge cathedral to the right of us. She thought it ostentatious. Alaizabel refused Carlisle's hand as she clambered out, her head shaking in a solid _NO!_ But, she stumbled and the fragile bone popped. Her eyes grew even larger in pain and I had to look away swiftly to stop myself staring in a mixture of horror and fascination at how the black that darkened her eyes grew bigger. She looked alien and afraid.

Walking down the stone hidden stairs on our way down to the Thames, Carlisle distastefully thought about someone. He I faced him to clarify who he was thinking about, but it was just the human driver. Carlisle suspected that he, much like Gianna, was employed by the Volturi in the promise that he would be made one of them. Oh how easily people fell under that old world mysticism that vampires would barter with humans, when they could much more easily devour them. I could hear the man wondering whether this would be enough to allow the trade to begin. Carlisle had been right about the faux trade, and I fought to hide a smirk.

But now, it was not the mans thoughts that occupied my mind, but that of Alaizabel's. Her inner voice was whimpering, going over everything she had ever done wrong in her life and praying for forgiveness. The overpowering pheromones of fear were overpowering.

…_I swear, if I get out of this alive, I'll never, EVER go near the sea again. I'll never let her out. I'll keep myself to myself. I'll never find another Siren. I'll never get into trouble with vampires. I promise. But, please, I just don't want to die…_

Her face showed her terror, tears streaked down the elongated horrified white cheeks, and her breathing hiccoughed in her throat as she struggled with a panic attack. Alice and Carlisle supported her as went entered the tunnel, and I could hear her feet scraping across the floor, as subconsciously her limbs fought to flee from what lay ahead. Jane heard the resistance and looked around sharply, her eyes flickering from Alaizabel's to mine.

_If she knows what's good for her, she'll cooperate. _ She hissed inside.

_Although, _she thought more to herself, _I really don't understand what Aro wants. Just get rid of her, and her kind if I had my way. But he's always got to know, doesn't he…_

Jane opened another door and lead us into the light flooded chamber, the multitude of candles reflecting off her red eyes in a hideous glitter.

Alaizabel was well on the way to changing, but somehow, her _fang-qui_ knew not to make the change complete. It knew, or more, it **sensed** that now was the time to keep its true nature hidden. The devil inside her was learning. However, she still trembled, whatever part of her that remain human was petrified to the core. I could hear her cold and calculating thoughts as Alaizabel retreated and the _fang-qui_ took the reigns, her aroma became that much more concentrated and the ringing in my ears that had been with me since we arrived in London became piercing, and I grimaced. Her eyes were like two onyx orbs, shiny and cold, with only the slightest rim of white as they stared with little emotion at the chamber and its occupant. The eyes were assessing the situation, hunting. They looked like shark eyes.

Jane stood over by Aro as she closed the door, and the driver disappeared into a different door. He was going to check on Demetri and Adam. They had a captive and he wanted to watch the interrogation. I scowled at the disturbing enthusiasm in his voice as he wondered how long, or how hard you would have to, to break a vampire.

"Carlisle! And family of course. Delightful to see you again." Aro cried gleefully, clapping his hands together and striding towards us. Alaizabel beheld his form and knew him for what he was. Although I could hear his current thoughts – _Oh now this, __**this**__, is interesting…- _she could see his desire, and through her, I did too. I was shocked at the implication in the desire of the Volturi leader.

_I WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT WE CAN DO WITH IT, BY __ANY__ MEANS POSSIBLE. I WANT TO SEE IF IT CAN KILL US._

Alaizabel became quite still as her human remains, like a rabbit being stalked by a fox, knew that stillness meant survival.

"And of course this double-soul. I've been looking forward to meeting you very much." Aro continued, looking Alaizabel up and down. His assessment was hysterical with excitement.

_So odd, so very odd! And yet so fantastic! Look at those hands, so perfect for climbing, for swimming, for picking locks. And those eyes, built for seeing in dark light. That hair, so vibrant, how could anyone not be drawn to it? It would do evolution proud. I wonder just how sturdy she really is against ones as adept as us?_

Alaizabel was very quiet, even inside her mind. She just kept repeating a little mantra that surprised me, as it revealed just how scared the _fang-qui_ was, as well as her host.

_**DO NOT FALTER YOUR GAZE; HE CANNOT KNOW YOU ARE AFRAID. HE MUST RETREAT FIRST. DO NO FALTER YOUR GAZE…**_

"Tell me, Edward," he mused, his eyes still firmly trained on Alaizabel "what is its name?"

I'd had enough of him referring to her as 'it'. She, although not totally human, was still a thing. She was not a lab rat. I fought down a snarl and let the venomous thoughts stray to my glare as I replied.

"_Her_ name-"

"My name is Alaizabel Greyson" she cut it.

"Well, Alaizabel Greyson, I can see that you are clearly used to being around our kind." Aro replied, bowing his head is a parody of courtesy, but not before his eyes flickered to Carlisle. He was definitely not happy at this intrusion into the vampire world, even if from a creature that could no more reveal itself to the world than he.

He explained to Alaizabel about his gift, and proceeded to ask her if he could read her. She didn't reply. Mentally, she was still chanting that mantra. She wasn't going to stop him, and I was relieved, as I could tell that should she try, Aro would just have called upon Jane. I don't think I could have restrained myself, let alone Alaizabel, had that happened. But as Aro's white hands slithered towards her, my whole family reacted together and stood in his way. None of us knew why, we couldn't stop him, but it was instinct. To protect the defenseless thing against hands that would crush and crumble in their perverted search for answers. Jane snarled quietly but Aro merely wore an expression of slight confusion. Jane was at Aro's side in a flash.

"You are already in hot water, Cullens" Jane sneered. "Don't provoke us further." Her thoughts aimed herself at Alice, that competitive streak in her begging for a fight. I growled very quietly, so that is was merely a vibration through the floor.

"Carlisle, I suggest you control your family. It's not like you to be so… loose reined." Aro said.

Carlisle sighed as he stood out of the way, pushing both me and Alice to comply. I stared at him with shock. He couldn't do this, Aro was insane, and he wouldn't let us leave! But Carlisle was already apologizing inside, and I bent to his dilemma; what else was he to do?

The hair clump lay like blood between Aro's fingers and I felt apprehension drip down my back like an omen.

"My, Adam was right about the scent. How oddly delectable. Very salty." He murmured. He reached out again for Alaizabel.

Aro smiled as he made contact.

"Interesting, incredibly interesting." He mused. Inside I deflated as I came to term with what had just happened.

He had seen everything.

He knew what she was. He knew how she worked, and what drove her fang-qui to expose itself. He saw that fang-qui could destroy vampires by using their own feeding habits against them. He knew that her call didn't work on my family but did on Katherine. He saw that Katherine had been with Alaizabel at her capture (so his had been Demetri's interrogation victim). And most, importantly, he knew that there were more Sirens.

"So, you are a Siren?"

He meticulously looked at her hands, the emaciated long fingers stretch far past his own as he held them palm to palm with his. Alaizabel was working with her _fang-qui_ to not let anything show. She was like a puppet, allowing herself to be manipulated and contorted, yet barely even blinking. Jane was becoming impatient, and frankly jealous.

_Let's just kill her. Who cares what she is. She isn't important, not like me._

"My lord, must we really-"

"Jane, have patience." Aro interrupted smoothly. "Cullens, a word with you if you please." He asked, motioning to one of the gilt doors.

Just as Aro closed the door, Alice had a vision. Alaizabel's fang-qui had somehow lost the ability to block her fore-sight as it concentrated all if its energy onto staying alive. And the vision Alice had was horrifying.

_Alaizabel was on the floor, her bones broken, her face bruised and smashed. But she did not whimper, her huge black eyes didn't run over with tears, and her chest did not heave with sobs. Her chest did not move at all. Her corpse was kicked out of the way as other vampires crowded around a flickering red light. Three huge pyres burned and the red-eyes around them stared with vicious vendetta. On the pyres were limbs, a crop of blonde hair in one, a thin bird like wrist in another. It was us._

Carlisle and Aro began to converse, but I was trying to decipher a way to avoid what Alice had seen.

_Edward! This is what will happen if you continue with whatever you're planning. You have to change your mind! Whatever it is, you have to change, or we'll ALL die! _Alice screamed inside.

But before I could even contemplate what it was, Aro touched my shoulder. He now knew everything I knew about them. About my suspicions. He knew Alaizabel was dangerous, Amaya had admitted it to me herself.

"She is dangerous. Even to vampires. From what I've seen, it almost seems as if they were built specifically to harm us." Aro wondered aloud.

Inside, he was plotting. He was going to break Alaizabel. She would become his little experiment, so he could find her weakness. He wanted to make sure that vampires stayed at the top of the food chain. And that meant he wasn't going to let her leave, especially not with us. His annoyance at our harboring her had abated, satisfied that he would get to play the scientist. He would let us go. As long as we left alone.

Alice had another vision as my mind started to sway.

_We were walking away, our backs to the great light hall. Me, Alice and Carlisle, and also Katherine, who was struggling underneath mine and Carlisle's grip. Behind us, were Jane, Demetri, Aro and Adam. The two brutish men held Alaizabel as firmly as vices as she screamed after us._

"_YOU LIAR! YOU SAID I COULD TRUST YOU, CULLEN! YOU TRAITOR! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME! TRAITOR!"_

_The door closed and as the blackness surrounded us, Alaizabel's voice echoed and died._

If I left her here, we would survive. It sounded terrible but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. We would live to fight another day, and Aro wouldn't just kill her. He'd keep her alive, she was too valuable to just exterminate like a rat. But she would suffer. Suffer and live, or suffer and die? I was being tossed on the horns of a dilemma and the more I was faced with the ultimate outcomes, the more I knew what I had to do.

"If we leave her with you, will we – will we be free to go?".

Alice, Aro and Carlisle stared at me in shock.

Alice and Carlisle wore identical masks of shock at the unthinkable act of betrayal, but how could they know that I was saving us all. But would they see it the same way that I did, would they ever forgive me? They would have to hear Alaizabel's scream just like I did, and they may not be convinced that having that memory was worth it.

"Why, of course Edward! I have seen everything I need to. Besides, she is no concern of yours, as you saw yourself she cannot affect you. It is time we investigated a more traditional way." Aro replied. He was practically grinning with excitement, and he was goading me to do it. He wanted to hear the "_noble, most moral Edward Cullen stoop to abandoning his friend to save his own neck" _as he put it.

'_NO Edward, don't! You can't! That can't be the way! Please, there must be something else?!' _Alice pleaded

'_Why? You can't just leave her! Do you realize what they'll __**do**__ to her! She'd be a captive! You just can't Edward!'_ Carlisle begged.

I stared at Alice's disgusted amber eyes and thought '_I really hope what you saw stays true'_.

Gathering all of my conviction that I was doing to right thing, I spoke

"She is yours." I said.

Aro smiled a grotesque smile, and his thoughts mimicked Jane's as they fantasized about pain.

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**OH GOSH. Does everyone get why Edward did what he did now? Do you all forgive him? I really hope you do!**

**Next chapter shouldn't be so long to be posted hopefully, keep an eye out!**

**-HMT**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: I'd prefer thumbscrews.

The room I was thrown into was damp, dark and lit only by a single red light in the far corner, barely penetrating the swallowing blackness. The walls glittered, and as I ran my long hand across it, I saw it was due to them being completely soaked. It was only water, but the red light made me feel as if I were swimming in a room filled to the brim with blood. I shivered and rubbed my arms against the wet cold that seeped under my skin.

It was deadly silent in here, but my ears rand with the screams I had cried only moments ago.

"_YOU LIAR! YOU SAID I COULD TRUST YOU, CULLEN! YOU TRAITOR! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME! TRAITOR!"_

Tears seeped out of the corners of my eyes and slid smoothly down my cheek, before I brushed them away harshly, leaving a sting in their wake. I had been abandoned - the very people who had been my aid were now my executioners as they left me to be ripped apart by these Volturi monsters. I should have known, vampires can never be good. They are not physically capable of it. _No, _I thought to myself - _Katherine was good - sort of - she tried to save you!_ Yes, but it didn't work did it? I was stuck here, in this horrendous place, and the only thing I felt from every cold being that dragged and shoved me here was that they wanted to see how dangerous I was. I fascinated them the way a child is fascinated by the web of a spider before it crushed it with its boot.

A gurgling noise distracted me. It sounded like the noise a radiator makes when air is trapped inside. The gurgling increased in volume - it was coming from behind the thick stone walls. I pressed my ear against the damp mortar - cringing as the condensation slithered down my neck - and listened. Pipes.

Hundreds of pipes.

Maybe thousands.

They were all creaking and groaning as if they hadn't been used in years and were all suddenly at maximum capacity. I continued to listen, when a very distinct sound of water splattering on the floor behind me jolted me from my pondering. I ambled blindly towards the spot and cried aloud as another gush of water landed directly atop my head. The water was icy cold, and smelt dirty. I could feel silt grated against my skin in the folds of my sodden clothes Water was splattering all over the place now, from random points I could not place. I backed away and collided with the door. Perhaps it was that my eyes had adjusted to the light, or perhaps the reflection from the wet floor illuminated it greater, but I could make out the markings on the door now. It was a small capsule shape, the texture of the rim showed heaving titanium that finished in a rubber seal. The door was water tight. Panic rose in my gut, but I did not scream until my fingers flitted over the indentations on the panel of the trap.

Finger nails had scored their mark in this door . Hundreds of slashes criss-crossed over it, ominously pointing the direction of where I was heading. The splattering behind me had changed, it was no longer water on stone, it was the slapping of water upon _water._ The room was filling up like a beaker. I stared around, trying to make out the source of the water, to see if I could stop it up. I made out the silhouette of a pipe protruding from the ceiling, emitting a constant stream of sluggish water. And studded across the rest of the ceiling were more pipes that were just the same.

Hundreds of pipes.

Maybe thousands.

I cared not that I could survive in the water - who knew the variables and circumstances that allowed me to live? Maybe this was the wrong type of water - it was river water, not sea, maybe I needed salt to survive! And besides, even if the water was right, it would mean that _she _would be free. As much as she had been my ally, I knew she would turn upon me in a flash if she thought she could win the body outright.

And then it hit me. That's what the Volturi were doing - they wanted to see her in her true form. They wanted to look their predator in the eye before they killed her. How noble.

This whole experiment wasn't just about seeing how dangerous I was, it was about seeing how dangerous I could be when I had no control.

I felt a shiver of fear that had nothing to do with the water lapping around my thighs that told me _she_ was stirring. She could sense the fear, the water, the death on the air. She wanted out. I waded back to the door and in my desperation began hammering until the skin on my knuckles cracked and bled.

"Let me out! You've got to let me out! You don't know what you're doing, I can't survive in this! It's wrong, you've got it wrong!"

I bellowed until my throat burned and my ears rang with my own voice. The sound of water lapping somewhere near my shoulders was the only answer I got.

Treading water in the cold and the dark was near impossible. My feet hadn't touched the ground in minutes as I floated, and I was being passed directly underneath the pipes again and again, pushing me further down into the water, my breath coming in short sharp gasps. My head bumped the ceiling and I scrabbled along it with my hands in the fleeting hope of finding some sort of air hole, grate, off button, anything! My fingers met slab after slab of stone that was very, truly solid. I was up to my nose in water now, and knowing I couldn't stave it off much longer, I craned my neck to suck in one last gulp of air, brush the stone ceiling with my lips, and plunged myself into the dark water below.

If being in the room before the water had felt like swimming in blood, it was nothing compared to what that felt like now. The red light glowed dully through the hazy water, and the liquid felt thicker than normal. I felt like the consistency of blood.

I allowed myself to sink to the bottom as I expelled every last bubble of air from my lungs, and I waited. Waited 'til I could not stave of the reflex to breathe, 'til I could not deny the voice in my head and throat and lungs screaming "**BREATHE!"**

I gasped a huge, heavy lung full of water. The red of the light flared brighter as the pain ripped through me and shattered every fibre of my respiration system. I floated limply as the pain subsided towards the light. The bulb was large and shiny, and in it I made out two tiny pinpricks of light that were being reflected from the water.

The enormous, fully black eyes of my _fang-qui stared back at me in the reflection, and glittered just as Jane's had, with an excitement that could only be described as blood lust._


End file.
